'Novak Djokovic and I are in the same boat right now' - Grigor Dimitrov

COVID-19 is known to not just physically debilitate an individual, but also greatly affect their mental health. Dealing with the recovery process of the disease has led to many struggling with their state of mind, and that has also been the case with Grigor Dimitrov - who contracted the virus during Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour.

The Bulgarian revealed in an interview with SkySports that he is still not 100%, and that the mental side of the disease should not be underestimated. He also said he has been in touch with Novak Djokovic, despite all the friction between their families lately.

"I was fearing my body shutting down," Grigor Dimitrov opens up in an exclusive interview about contracting coronavirus at the Adria Tour. He is now having to deal with the symptoms and will never know if it will effect him long-term.📱💻🎾👇at https://t.co/HVgKsn5EBA

— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) August 5, 2020

I spoke to Novak Djokovic a while back: Grigor Dimitrov

The Djokovic and Dimitrov camps have been at loggerheads with each other ever since the Bulgarian tested positive for COVID-19. Novak Djokovic’s father Srdjan had blamed Dimitrov for bringing the virus from elsewhere and spreading it at Zadar. He didn't stop at that, and went on to directly blame Grigor Dimitrov for tarnishing his son’s image.

In response to this, Dimitrov’s manager Georgi Stoimenov said that his client had not traveled anywhere and instead had been isolating in Belgrade for three months. Dimitrov’s former coach Daniel Vallverdu also hit out at Novak Djokovic’s father, claiming that he had stooped too low.

Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov

As such, it came as a pleasant surprise when Dimitrov revealed that he and Novak Djokovic are on talking terms now. In the interview with Skysports, Dimitrov spoke about how he and Djokovic were experiencing the same situation with respect to their recovery from the virus.

"I spoke to Novak a while back now," Dimitrov said. "We're in the same boat right now but we're almost back to 100 per cent.”

Novak Djokovic has resumed training on hard-courts

Novak Djokovic was among the asymptomatic cases at the Adria Tour, and didn’t experience any physical effects of the virus. But the overall experience of testing positive, coupled with the widespread criticism he faced for organizing the event, would have undoubtedly left him with some mental struggles of his own.

Grigor Dimitrov on the other hand was among the unfortunate ones to have experienced physical symptoms; he recently revealed the painful effects it had on his body. The Bulgarian is now a firm believer in the ‘virtue of patience’, and during the Sky interview he elaborated how he has managed to deal with the situation.

"This is where the virtue of patience comes in a little bit and I think those people need to start thinking about their mental state. I think this is very important and it's not something to be underestimated,” Dimitrov said.

The World No. 19 went on to talk about how he and all the other affected players are slowly trying to get back to normal. Dimitrov, Coric, Djokovic and Troicki are all back on the court for training, and are expected to play in the upcoming tournaments.

“The timing is not comfortable for anyone, but from what I've heard everything is good," Dimitrov said. "We're all back on the court. We're trying to practice as much as possible and now we're waiting to sort of hear what the next step is going to be for us."