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Grigor Dimitrov recovering well from coronavirus
ATP Tennis Players, Tennis News

‘Coronavirus hit me hard and I’m still not ready to play tennis again,’ says former world number three


Grigor Dimitrov has revealed how badly he was affected by the coronavirus, admitting it he is still not ready to play even after a month.

The Bulgarian tested positive for coronavirus while playing on the Adria Tour and immediately headed home to Monaco to self-isolate while the tournament was abandoned.

Thankfully, his condition was never critical. but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t taken its toll.

“Clearly I’m not ready to compete at the highest level right now,” Dimitrov told Tennis Majors after losing to Feliciano Lopez in the Ultimate Tennis Showdown.

“The movement is getting better, everything else is kind of going in the right direction but it’s still not easy to recover.

“The coronavirus was hard on me so I stayed home for about a month.

“I was not breathing well, was not feeling well. (I was) tired, you know, all the symptoms, had no taste, no smell. Everything you could possibly think of so it was no fun.

“In a way I’m lucky to be on the court right now.

Coronavirus victim Grigor Dimitrov

“You don’t know. One day I feel really well and I have four hours to be out but then all of a sudden I need to completely shut down and take a nap, or just rest.”

As bad as the physical traumas of the illness are, the mental ones are possibly even tougher to overcome, says Dimitrov.

“Of course (there are mental struggles). I mean, you’re alone 20 days for about 24 hours, so of course a lot of things are going through your head.

“It doesn’t matter how mentally strong you are, I think as a person, an athlete or anything, it’s inevitable to get some bad thoughts in your head so I had to deal with that too.

“This thing is real. If we take the right precautions and everybody is safe, things will get better quicker.

“But it’s a strange time so you have to work not only on your physical but on your mental aspect as well.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.