THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 4, 2026

Grigor Dimitrov

Press Conference

G. DIMITROV/M. Berrettini

6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Grigor, another great victory out there. Feeling happy, I'm sure? Give us your thoughts.

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Yeah, I mean, amazing, amazing day today. What can I say? I thought the match would go a little bit more smoother after the first two sets.

But I've got to give a lot of credit to Matteo. I mean, the way he fought throughout the whole match was, you know, respect to him for that. He didn't lose the fight, he didn't lose the belief, didn't lose his serve for a while, as well. That was a big problem.

But again, it was a match that it was such an atmosphere, I think, and I really am feeding off of that. It was a wonderful moment to be out there.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Do you believe in destiny?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Always, man. Always. Always I believe in destiny. The roof has been closing the last three matches. I mean, I don't know.

Yeah, I believe in destiny, but right now, we're just, you know, living in the moment. I think that's all I have been trying to do every single day when I get out there on the courts, whether I'm playing a match or not.

I just want to keep that line going. You know, really, I know it sounds a little bit cliché, but really the outcome for me, it becomes secondary right now. I think just falling in love again with the game and everything that, you know, that I have gone through the past 12 months and all that, the magnitude of that, it's way different for me.

You know, I'm taking everything one day at a time.

Q. Fantastic match. You played a fantastic match technically, physically, mentally. Anything which surprises you more between these three different fields? And you were born in '91. In 2001, the tournament was won by Goran Ivanisevic, who got a wildcard being 125. You were 146. Do you think it's feasible to win the tournament?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Listen, when you have a racquet in your hand, everything is possible. It's a great story, isn't it?

No, I get it, trust me. I live for those...

Yeah, again, I don't want to get ahead of myself on anything. But it truly -- I'm just proud. I'm just proud that I'm able to just to handle myself the way that I'm doing it right now.

That's the things that you just mentioned early on, I felt I have done well. I think even if I would have lost that match today, I still would have been proud, because I knew I have given everything I could have.

You know, there is such a fine line when you win or lose of how mentally you treat yourself. It's a very difficult for me to explain, so I will try to sum it up. It's like if you win, then you start picking up on the smallest thing you have done on the court. And then if you lose, you're on the biggest thing, right? There is always that fine line of you need to kind of keep a balance on both sides.

All I wanted to do was, you know, compete, stay present, stay fit, you know, physically, mentally. Because I couldn't really do that much in the third and the fourth set, if you think about it. He was outplaying me completely. There was not much for me to do.

There is this little place where I was, Okay, I might have a chance, even if in the fifth it might be, I don't know, a let call, a ball, maybe he's going to have an off serve. Maybe I was reading the serve better.

Then little by little, you build that mental toughness, and when push comes to shove in those important moments, I was really able to use it.

That made a difference today.

Q. You're here as a wildcard. Did you have to ask for a wildcard, or did you know that the club considered guesting you when you were out of the top 100? How did you live these weeks before the tournament?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Oh, you ask, you ask. No, you've got to ask. That is the thing. Again, I'm very grateful for Wimbledon granting me the wildcard, because I think regardless, I would have played the quallies. There is no secret in that. Whatever tournaments I was playing before, I knew that I had to play Wimbledon quallies.

So it was very difficult for me to build a schedule. I won't lie to you. This is really the case. I was very unsure if I could, you know, go play Dublin or I wasn't sure, how can I go to play Mallorca, but then I've got to be here for the quallies. There was a lot of ifs hanging around.

Then in the end, I just asked. Listen, if it works out, great. If not, then great again.

Yeah, they trusted me. I got the news, and I was, like, really able to start framing my mind a little bit more, knowing that I'm going to be in the main draw.

Then that gave me some days to really prepare physically and mentally, as well. My whole preparation was, Okay, I'm just going to have some matches here and there, then I'm going to go play the quallies with the hope that I can qualify.

Yeah, here we are.

Q. Can you just explain why you brought Jamie Delgado back into your team? What does he bring to the team? He did win the title here with Andy Murray 10 years ago.

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Me and Jamie have always worked, I think, well. We see the game the same way. I think he's great at managing, I think, throughout the whole team, including me. I think we speak a very common language of what needs to be done, simplifies things for me a lot.

You know, it's very important to have that good, you know, work connection. And he's been there, he's done that, on so many different occasions with such an amazing players in the past.

You know, I'm on a timeline, so it was important for me to set the boundaries, set the rules, and set the goals. That's just what it is.

Again, I don't know how much more I'm going to play or years of this. No one knows at the moment. But, like, we have a very clear goal, clear vision of what needs to be done right now and what we can do. He's really good at that, of helping me, like, managing all these moments, because now or never for me to have that last final push for my career.

You know, I still believe in myself. I have played good tennis. I know I've had somehow a pretty crazy career to a certain extent with highs and lows and ups and downs, all that. I get it. I'm aware. I wouldn't change a thing, man.

At the moment, we're just going at it with a full force of what needs to be done, regardless of the outcome, and we keep on believing in the path and the plan.

He's been able to do that, as well. He's been able to make things a little bit more simple. Also, the gathered experience he's had, it makes me think a little bit from a different perspective, which is very useful where I'm at.

Q. You're playing a British player next, Arthur Fery, another wildcard. How much do you know about him? As someone who has beaten Andy Murray here, what's it like playing against a British player and against the crowd?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: I mean, listen, it's not going to be an easy match. I have seen him play. He's a great competitor. He's playing at home. I mean, second week, Wimbledon, big court.

I can totally get it (smiling). No, I'm going to approach this match as every other match. There's nothing has changed on my side. I'm just really going to focus on my side of the net and what I want to be doing out there and achieving on the court.

Try to find a way around that match. You know, that's going to be for me, as I said, I have seen him play. He's a great player. Yeah, I'm sure we are both going to be ready for that match.

Q. You talked a lot about living in the moment, not thinking about results. I imagine in a sport like this where results define a lot, that sometimes can be difficult to do. When did that shift occur for you? What pushed you to commit to that mentality?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Well, when I have had time to turn inwards in the past 12 months, I had time to stop and look back the road traveled. There is so many good moments and bad moments and everything.

But there is also come a moment in time where you just need to maybe try a little bit of a different approach for different things. You have fought something for so long, for example, and it turns out maybe you've been fighting the wrong thing.

I don't know. It's difficult for me to, like, sum it up for you, but it's just the way it is, and, you know, these are the moments that I really kind of have forgotten a little bit.

The last, let's see, three matches that I have played, not even tonight or the one before, just the last three matches, have really reminded me a different part of myself. And it's amazing. You know, like, I'm really, you know, falling in love with that process again of doing all that.

Of course, winning helps. Don't get me wrong. I mean, who wouldn't want to win? But then there are so many other things that have come on board that you need to be able to handle and thoughts and all that.

So I really had to put a lot of work in myself for that. It's not over. The work is not over. I think I'm just at the beginning of it. Don't get me wrong. There's so much more to, you know, to unfold and to try and to potentially do better. Who knows?

But at the moment, I'm just doing the things that really depend on me the best that I can.

Q. Not a lot of players playing the way you do. In fact, you may be the Last of the Mohicans. People appreciate that you're old school. You even jumped over the net like players in the '40s. Your legacy, people will say, Grigor was a classy guy, cool dude. How do you interpret that popularity?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: I don't know. I think you should ask them. That's the thing. No, no, I do feel like, of course I feel like I really have felt very embraced throughout my career from everyone. Like, I'm not going to, like, I'm not going to be humble like that on that one. I totally see it. I get it. I understand it, as well.

But there's a part of me that I always wanted to win not just for me. I think maybe that's the part that people are feeling. I think whether it's for, you know, for my family, my fans, every time I come back, I want to win, but also want to win for them, for you guys, everyone that is supporting me. That is my way as appreciation.

Again, my career has been very tumultuous, if you think about it. It has been. But again, I have had some ridiculous moments that I will forever cherish.

I think while I'm still playing, I will always keep on trying to produce those moments on the court, and off the court just be myself the best way I possibly can. I don't want to hide. That's never been my forte, even though sometimes I wish I would have not been so, like that.

But, yeah, I'm happy with myself the way I am. You know, I do it for the love of the game, for the love of the fans, for the love of my family, my agents, friends, people that have been with me, you know, my girlfriend, everyone that has been throughout with me for, you know, for so many years, and especially in the toughest months.

And you truly really see the, you know, the truth of everyone once you go through all that. I'm forever grateful for that moment that happened.