Bulgarian Tennis Star Dimitrov Quits Sydney over Exhaustion

Grigor Dimitrov reacts after winning his match against Frederik Neilson of Denmark, during the session 7 men's singles match at the Hopman Cup Tennis tournament in Perth, Australia, January 4, 2012. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The best Bulgarian male tennis player Grigor Dimitrov has decided to leave the tournament in Sydney, Australia with a USD 434 000 prize fund.

The motive behind the decision is exhaustion. Dimitrov did not manage to recover on time after his two matches Friday at the Hopman Cup tournament in the city of Perth, Australia. Immediately after the games, the young Bulgarian tennis star had to board the plane for a five-hour flight from Perth to Sydney, where the qualifiers kicked off after he landed.

Saturday morning Dimitrov easily defeated Estonian J?rgen Zopp in a three-set match, 6:1, 6:7(6), 6:2, but fatigue forced him to leave his second match in Sydney, versus Adam Feeney. Dimitrov started playing, however, he quit the match in the first set, when he was losing it by 0-3.

This was the fourth game for the Bulgarian in less than 24 hours. On Friday, Dimitrov won in Perth against world number eight Mardy Fish of the US, upsetting the American in just 2-0 sets (6:2, 6:1) and in less than an hour.

Immediately after that Dimitrov and the best Bulgarian female player, Tsvetana Pironkova, defeated the US 2-1 in their last Hopman Cup encounter, thus finishing second in Group A.

The next tournament he will participate in is Australian Open, which begins on January 16.

Dimitrov, 19, is from the southern Bulgarian city of Haskovo.

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