Benchwarmers Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas are both former champions, triumphing on their respective debuts. They’re also the highest-ranked players in the world with single-handed backhands.
So the Bulgarian and Greek haven’t struggled for conversation this week as they’ve passed time together at the Inalpi Arena, waiting for a tap on the shoulder to step in for a qualified player in the event of illness or injury.
“Every day, we’ve been hitting together, and chatting a lot,” said Dimitrov, who won the finale on debut in 2017 but has not been among the Elite Eight since. “So for our friendship, and to experience something like this overall, outside of competing, I think it’s great.”
Tsitsipas, who is the only player to win both the Next Gen ATP Finals and Nitto ATP Finals (2019), has also enjoyed his time hanging with Dimitrov, whom he leads 6-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
“We have been hanging out a bit. He’s a cool guy. I really like him,” said Tsitsipas, who qualified for the event the past five years. “We’ve definitely had time to discuss a few things and to have a little bit of fun. I’ve never seen that side of Grigor before. Because on the Tour we’re just doing our own thing. And here it feels like it’s much more chill and fun.”
