Denis Shapovalov was onto something when he predicted success for Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov, fellow owners of the vaunted single-handed backhand.
“We’re gonna come back. Next year, me, Stefanos, Grigor…we’re all going to be in the top 10,” Shapovalov said in Miami, after the news there was no single-handed backhand representation in the top 10 for the first time in ATP rankings history.
Ever since Shapovalov’s declaration, Tsitsipas and Dimitrov have been flying.
Shapovalov himself has shown signs of recapturing the form that saw him crack the top 10 in 2020, reaching the third round this fortnight at Roland Garros.
Tsitsipas and Dimitrov have gone even further, with both advancing to the quarterfinals.
It’s more success for Tsitsipas, the 2021 Roland Garros finalist and perhaps the very best player on clay in 2024, who stopped Matteo Arnaldi in four sets to return to this stage.
And it marks new ground for Dimitrov, who completes his Grand Slam quarterfinal set after beating No.8 seed Hubert Hurkacz.
“I don't think (I had) doubt, but I was wondering (if I would make it this far in Paris) more so than anything else, but that was a long wondering,” said the 33-year-old Dimitrov, who first played at Roland Garros in 2011.
“I think better late than never.”
This is Dimitrov’s first major quarterfinal appearance since Australian Open 2021, and Tsitsipas’ first in exactly a year.
Both have been ranked as high as world No.3 and been ATP Finals champions, without tasting ultimate Grand Slam success.
Both play the kind of fluid tennis – one-handed backhands and all-court sensibilities – that appeals to tennis traditionalists.
And both will aim to prevent a semifinal between two newer-generation stars, when Tsitsipas confronts Carlos Alcaraz and Dimitrov takes on Jannik Sinner.
Back in Miami, as Shapovalov was speaking, Tsitsipas had slipped to world No.11 – ending a streak of five straight years inside the top 10 – and Dimitrov was ranked 12th.
It was at that very moment Dimitrov surged; he won through to the final, where it took the red-hot Sinner to stop him, and he was suddenly back in the top 10.
Transitioning well from hard courts to clay, Dimitrov has won 13 of his past 17 matches and currently sits at No.8 in the ATP live rankings.
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“I've been approaching every match the same way, so I think there's not going to be any difference whoever I play. Clearly he's been playing good tennis, winning a lot of matches this year. Lost to him in the final in Miami,” he said of Sinner, the Australian Open champion who leads the head-to-head 3-1.
“(He’s a) great competitor, but so am I. You enter into a very good place at a Grand Slam where I think we all want to be.
“It's an exciting moment. It's a good occasion. Let's play it out.”
Not long after Miami, it was Tsitsipas who surged in the first big clay-court event of the season.
He won the Monte Carlo Masters – his third in Monaco in the past four years – and joined Dimitrov back inside the top 10. He has gone on to win 17 of his 20 clay-court matches.
Now sitting at world No.9, Tsitsipas has a chance to reach his first major semifinal since Australian Open 2023.
He just has to overcome a 0-5 record against Alcaraz, the reigning Wimbledon champion, to do so.
“He has said in the past that he likes playing against me,” said Tsitsipas, who fell to Alcaraz in last year’s Roland Garros quarterfinals.
“I hope he gets to like it a little bit less this time (smiling). I hope I can get him to that stage of starting to feel maybe that it’s not so comfortable playing against me, that’s my goal, going into the match.
“I hope there are chances on my side that I can utilise. And (that) I can create an amazing atmosphere.
“These are the moments I’m waiting for as a tennis player.”