El Dude said:
A
nicely optimistic view on Grigor's year. Good to keep the big picture in mind: Grigor took a huge step forward this year, rising as high as #8 and finishing at #11 with a 50-18 record. Only seven players won more matches. His 73.5% winning percentage was good for 6th and he won 3 titles - only a handful of players won more.
A good year and, as Bodo said, it may be a platform for even greater things to come. I suspect that 2015 will see Grigor slide into the top 10 and stay there, barring injury, for years to come.
This reminded me of your November 2, 2013, blog post about Dimitrov,
"The Curious Case of Grigor Dimitrov: Is “Baby Federer†(Finally) Growing Up?"
Especially this part:
"2014 Prediction: I think Grigor will continue his upward trend and is a good bet for an ATP 500 title, and a dark horse candidate for an ATP 1000. Where in 2012 he established himself as a Top 50 player and in 2013 he ended on the cusp of the Top 20, in 2014 he’ll establish himself as a perennial Top 20 player – and on the upper half of that range, even with a chance to challenge for the “soft bottom†of the Top 10, the spots that players like Tipsarevic, Gasquet, and Wawrinka vie for – and which he, Janowicz, Raonic, and Nishikori will fight for in 2014. He won’t yet challenge the near elites for a spot in the Top 8 – that will come in 2015.
In the long-term, I like Grigor’s chances of winning a Slam some day. I don’t see it in 2014, and probably not 2015, but come 2016 – the year Nadal turns 30 and Djokovic and Murray 29, while Dimitrov will be in his prime at 24-25 – anything is possible."
Let's see how you did:
"... a good bet for an ATP 500 title ..." -- He won two.