Grigor Dimitrov’s serve "more complicated than ideal," believes Andy Murray's former coach

Andy Murray’s former coach, Mark Petchey, has claimed that Grigor Dimitrov’s hand position while serving is “suboptimal.&quot; He stated that several aspects make the Bulgarian’s serve more complicated than it is necessary.Grigor Dimitrov lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets in the third round of the 2023 Italian Open, 3-6, 6-4, 1-6 on Sunday, May 14. The World No. 33 came from a break down in the second set to push the match into a deciding third set. However, he could not carry the momentum into the third, where Djokovic broke his serve twice to win the decider 6-1. Dimitrov trails 11-1 in his head-to-head with the 22-time Grand Slam champion.A fan expressed his surprise at Dimitrov’s head-to-head with Djokovic, stating that the World No. 33 had no technical issues in his game. In response, Mark Petchey pointed out that Dimitrov’s serve has a technical issue, despite his fantastic career. The former tennis coach clarified that the Bulgarian's position causes him to lose trajectory and slice the ball.“Going to disagree here. It’s not that you can’t have a fantastic career as Grigor has with a technical issue because he has. However, this is a suboptimal hand position for his serve which contributes to the doubles and lack of slice on deuce and T Ad,” Petchey responded.Mark Petchey@_markpetchey@tennisnation Going to disagree here. It’s not that you can’t have a fantastic career as Grigor has with a technical issue because he has. However, this is a suboptimal hand position for his serve which contributes to the doubles and lack of slice on deuce and T Ad11@tennisnation Going to disagree here. It’s not that you can’t have a fantastic career as Grigor has with a technical issue because he has. However, this is a suboptimal hand position for his serve which contributes to the doubles and lack of slice on deuce and T Ad https://t.co/OSdV7s5oDpMark Petchey@_markpetchey@ThreadOrder @tennisnation He is in what some will call the ‘waiter’ position or ‘pizza tray’ and although don’t lose power you loose trajectory down into the court and you lose a certain amount of slice. Also on 2nd it comes out flatter so when nervous you slow up the racquet head to steer it in4@ThreadOrder @tennisnation He is in what some will call the ‘waiter’ position or ‘pizza tray’ and although don’t lose power you loose trajectory down into the court and you lose a certain amount of slice. Also on 2nd it comes out flatter so when nervous you slow up the racquet head to steer it in“I think Grigors hand is more open, knuckles more down to the ground which exaggerates the open position. Which then had the consequences I talked about earlier but there are a few things that make his serve more complicated than would be ideal,” Petchey clarified.Mark Petchey@_markpetchey@ThreadOrder @tennisnation I think Grigors hand is more open,knuckles more down to the ground which exaggerates the open position. Which then had the consequences I talked about earlier but there are a few things that make his serve more complicated than would be ideal2@ThreadOrder @tennisnation I think Grigors hand is more open,knuckles more down to the ground which exaggerates the open position. Which then had the consequences I talked about earlier but there are a few things that make his serve more complicated than would be idealMark Petchey@_markpetchey@ThreadOrder @tennisnation I feel GD pulls back too much and his upper body weight then at times through transfer is hard to synchronise and keep the timing. Racquet stays a lot lower for longer and therefore has further to travel and again contributes to some of the inconsistency3@ThreadOrder @tennisnation I feel GD pulls back too much and his upper body weight then at times through transfer is hard to synchronise and keep the timing. Racquet stays a lot lower for longer and therefore has further to travel and again contributes to some of the inconsistency https://t.co/yRbacSpOQCDimitrov’s only victory against Djokovic came in their third career meeting at the 2013 Madrid Masters. The Bulgarian prevailed in a tightly fought three-setter 7-6(6), 6-7(8), 6-3 in the second round of the tournamentt.&quot;The goal is to find consistency” - Grigor Dimitrov’s coach Daniel VallverduGrigor Dimitrov can play many years says his coachGrigor Dimitrov was considered a talented prospect during the early days of his career. The Bulgarian won eight career titles and reached a career-high ranking of World No. 3 in 2017.The Buglarian’s current coach, Daniel Vallverdu, recently stated their goal for 2023 was to find the same consistency as before. Despite being 31 years old, Dimitrov’s coach believes he can play for many years to come.“The goal is to find consistency in the results and try to win tournaments again,&quot; Vallverdu told Punto de Break.&quot;He is physically privileged, I see him in a good situation to play for many years to come,” added the coach.Dimitrov has had a mixed season so far in 2023, with a win-loss record of 11-8. His last title came back in 2017, at the Nitto ATP finals, which was the most successful year of the Bulgarian’s career so far.

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