site.btaGrigor Dimitrov’s Year in Review: Cementing His Place Back in Tennis Elite

Bulgaria’s highest ranked tennis player Grigor Dimitrov enjoyed one of his best years on the Tour at the age of 33. While the rejuvenation of his career started in 2023, this season featured milestones, records, even more successes, and cemented his place back in the elite of world tennis.

“I feel it is the best part of my career right now. I am really enjoying it and taking the most out of it,” Dimitrov told Tennisportalen TV in October. “I feel stronger than a lot of players so that gives me a good edge out there [on the court].” 

Behind the Numbers

Year-end Ranking: 10

Dimitrov surged back into the Top 10 on April 1 for the first time since November 2018. This came on the back of a great start of the season – 20 wins out of his first 25 matches and semifinals or better at four of six tournaments. 

His consistency kept him in the elite throughout the season and secured two more milestones. On August 5 he started his 100th week in the top 10 and later got his second-ever year-end top 10 placement after 2017.

At 33, his longevity cannot be underestimated. After Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray retired in 2024, the Bulgarian became the athlete with eight season finishes in top 20 among active players, and was second only to Novak Djokovic with nineteen. Djokovic is also the only player older (37) than Dimitrov in the current top 20. 

Titles: 1 / Finals: 5

In 2023, Dimitrov reached an ATP final for the first time since 2018. This year he took a step further, winning his first trophy since 2017 in Brisbane and reaching four more finals. Thus, 2024 became his third most successful season when it comes to finals played – only behind 2017 (9) and 2014 (7).

Prize Money Won: USD 3,186,056

He was eighth in the ATP Tour in prize money won in 2024 – another sign for his consistency in 2024.

Continuous Success

Consecutive Grand Slams Appearances: 55

The unbreakable record that is unlikely to fall before the end of Dimitrov’s career. The Bulgarian is the active player with the most consecutive Grand Slam appearances as he has not missed a single major championship since the Australian Open 2011. Djokovic holds the second-longest streak (51) – he took part in every Grand Slam between Australian Open 2005 and Wimbledon 2017.

Consecutive Weeks in Top 100: 630

On February 26, Dimitrov started his 600th consecutive week in the top 100. The streak started on April 2, 2012 and does not include the time between March and August 2020 when the rankings were frozen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is the second-longest active streak on the Tour – only Djokovic has a longer one with 1,012 weeks. 

Completing the Full Set

Dimitrov completed one more milestone this year. After reaching the quarterfinal at the French Open and the final at Miami Open, he joined an elite club – only three other active players have reached the final eight in all 13 leading tournaments on the Tour: the four Grand Slams and the 9 Masters. After Murray and Nadal retired, the list is short: Dimitrov, Djokovic, Marin Cilic and Daniil Medvedev.

His run in Miami was particularly impressive. On route to the final he overcame three top ten players - Hubert Hurkacz (9), Alexander Zverev (5) and top seed Carlos Alcaraz (2), who was on a nine-match winning streak – that was also Dimitrov’s 40th top 10 win and fourth top 2 win. He lost the title to second seed Jannik Sinner.

A Match for the History Books

One of the highlights of the year will not be reflected in the standings or official statistics. On September 17, the most successful Bulgarian tennis player brought the most successful player in the history of the sport, Novak Djokovic, in Sofia. The two entertained the crowd in a fully packed Arena Sofia in a 2-1 set win for Dimitrov. The game was played just a month after the Serbian won his first Olympic gold medal in Paris. 

Goals for 2025

Grigor Dimitrov will turn 34 in May 2025 but that does not dampen his ambitions. 

Since the tennis rankings were first introduced in 1973, only 15 players have reached the milestone of 500 Tour wins. Out of those, only Djokovic, Marin Cilic, Stan Wawrinka, Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils are still active. The Bulgarian is not that far from joining them. 

Dimitrov is standing at 459 career wins and given his record this season (46-18), 41 victories do not feel unreachable in 2025. In an interview for ATP’s official website, he said that the perfect scenario will be to grab the 500th win by winning a title: “Probably a Slam, it would put a nice spin on that.”

“I think this is the part I'm going to look forward to in the next season,” he added. “Not only  continue my form in that way, but being able to adapt, to change a bit more and maybe even be a bit more consistent.”