Dimitrov’s Travails Apparent in Latest US Open Odds

It's around 20 months since Grigor Dimitrov was riding high as the number three men's tennis player in the word. As third seed for the 2018 Australian Open, it felt like things were setting up for a wonderful year after he had reached his career pinnacle by winning the ATP Finals a few months previously. Indeed, Dimitrov had pushed all the way through to the quarter finals at the Australian Open, before crashing out to the unseeded Kyle Edmund.

Is it relevant to look back then to contextualise where Dimitrov is today? Well, one would argue that there were signs of Dimitrov's issues even when getting to the quarter finals of the Australian Open, his best-ever finish in a Grand Slam. To be frank, Dimitrov is a better player than Edmund, and the Bulgarian should have been celebrating a first ever Grand Slam semi-final. But the signs were there in that match; Dimitrov looked subdued, and he really couldn't get a handle on his serve. It's been a theme that has followed him for the last 20 months.

Dimitrov has fallen out of top 50

The rest of 2018 saw struggles with form, and 2019 hasn't been much better. It took Dimitrov nearly six months to win his 10th match of this year, and he plummeted outside of the world's top 50; his lowest ranking since 2012. Dimitrov has bobbed about around the top 50 throughout the last few months, and he hasn't really been able to gain any momentum. For example, it took him until the end of July to gain his first win after exiting the French Open.

Dimitrov's struggles have perhaps been best summed up by the latest betting for the US Open, where sites like 888sport have cited the Bulgarian as 180/1 for the last Grand Slam of the season. Yes, Dimitrov has not reach the...