Dimitrov's win over Ferrer at Stockholm is a tale of myriad crossroads

Spain’s David Ferrer (R) and winner Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov pose after the ATP Stockholm Open tennis tournament final match on October 20, 2013 in Stockholm. Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov beats Spain’s David Ferrer 2-6, 6-3 ,6-4

Tennis’ young hope Grigor Dimitrov finally justified his hype after he beat world number three David Ferrer 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to lift his maiden ATP tour title Sunday.

Having started the season on a high, Dimitrov upset his fans’ expectations in the second half of the year with lacklustre performances. He was coming into Stockholm Open on the back of an ignominious four-match losing streak but a stellar performance this week has catapulted his dwindling season into a memorable one.

The young Bulgarian needed two hours and ten minutes to beat the impenetrable David Ferrer in three tough sets. To top it all, ‘Baby’ Federer answered his critics, who claimed he was mentally fragile, by recovering from a first set loss to overcome the Spaniard grinder, who is notoriously known for playing each point as if his life depended on it.

The 22-year-old young hope broke the Spaniard thrice to finally out-grind his more experienced opponent.

Dimitrov, who trained in Sweden as a young child, said he was thrilled to have won his maiden ATP title, especially after his dismal results in his last four tournaments.

Dimitrov had reached his maiden final in Brisbane earlier this year, and had carried forward his momentum into the clay season when he took Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to three sets before succumbing to them.

As for Ferrer, it seems that his wheels have come off in the final leg of the season. He’ still ranked third in the world but would require an impressive performance in ATP World Tour Finals in London to stave off his challengers.

The 31-year-old veteran started the season with his customary elan as he won the Auckland title for the fourth time in his career. He carried the momentum into Australia as he reached the semi final of the Australian Open before succumbing to Novak Djokovic. It was during the clay season that Ferrer capped a memorable year, perhaps the highlight of his glittering career when he reached the final of the French Open, where he lost to his bete noir Rafael Nadal.

Since then, the Spaniard has had an indifferent form and though he reached the quarters at Flushing Meadows, the Asia leg of the season wasn’t an affair to remember.

The question that arises is whether the Spaniard is losing steam or is it just a blip in this late-bloomer’s career. In the past three season, discounting the big four, Ferrer has been a notch above the rest on the tour and what differentiated him and the other top ten players was his relentless ability to grind out results day in, day out. You’d hardly observe Ferrer capitulating to a lower-ranked player.

But, recent losses to Mayer, Tursonov and Dolgopolov has raised a few eyebrows in the tennis circle. The loss to Dimitrov, too, suggests that the tank is empty at the moment. The big question, as stated earlier, is whether he’ll be able to recuperate his creaky body (now that he’s 31 and will turn 32 next year) and set off on the Groundhog Day-like performances next year as well, which confound the pop theory of tennis players losing that strut after 30.

And as one veteran is entering the autumnal phase of his career, a new phoenix is rising from the ashes but it is yet to be seen whether Dimitrov has the composure to see him play consistently a la Ferrer.

It’ll be rivetting to follow the two players next season.