"We're not seeing that" - Grigor Dimitrov laments inadequate promotion of tennis players despite prolonged season and continuous touring
Grigor Dimitrov has expressed his belief that the broadcast and promotion of tennis are not happening the way they should. The Bulgarian also explained the reason behind several prominent players' absence from Netflix's tennis docuseries, Break Point.
Dimitrov, who is currently competing at the Italian Open, recently sat down for an interview with Craig Shapiro in Rome. The interview was later released as an episode of The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast. At one point during the interview, Shapiro asked if Dimitrov watches pro tennis and if the Bulgarian believes that the sport's tournaments are losing steam.
The former ATP World No. 3 said that there still is scope for tennis' broadcasting and promotions to be drastically improved.
"I still believe that our sport can be broadcasted very differently. I still believe our sport can be can be shown from a very different perspective, honestly. I think that we can be better promoted," Grigor Dimitrov said.
The Bulgarian also said that considering the amount of travel tennis players have to undertake amid hectic scheduling, they can be portrayed in more ways than just athletes.
"The amount of traveling that we do with players from different continents and all this, I just think that we can be more, I don't wanna say more legit because it's a strong word, but we, as I said, they can show the better part of us even more, because I think also what fans wanna see is the other parts of us. And I think this is the, in a way, the moment where we're not seeing that." Dimitrov added.
Shapiro also asked the current ATP World No. 10 why Netflix's Break Point did not feature him and several other prominent players. In his response, Dimitrov said that it was a combination of tournaments limiting filming access and players' reluctance "to show things from the inside".
"First, there's very limited, I think in a way it's very limited access to all the tournaments for the people to see all that. And I think while you're competing, a lot of the players don't want to show things from the inside, which I totally understand. You need to find, it's a fine balance. I think it's a fine balance. It's a very thin line on that end," Dimitrov concluded.
Grigor Dimitrov to play Taylor Fritz at the Italian Open for a place in the quarterfinals
Grigor Dimitrov is the eighth seed at the Italian Open and started the tournament with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Yoshihito Nishioka.
He then faced French qualifier Terence Atmane in the third round and beat him 7-6(3), 6-3 to book his place in the fourth round. Here, the Bulgarian will be up against 11th seed Taylor Fritz, who is also yet to drop a set in Rome.
Fritz and Dimitrov will face one another for the third time, with their head-to-head currently tied at 1-1. The winner of the match will face either 2017 champion Alexander Zverev or Portugal's Nuno Borges in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open.