His final success against Belgian’s David Goffin by 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 was the first by a debutant in the finals for nearly 2 decades.
The Bulgarian’s win here, seals a season with a good start and end. Having started the season with a ATP tournament win in Brisbane, before having match points against Nadal in the Australian Open semi-final, before losing, it took Dimitrov a while to regain the early season form, which he found by winning a 1000 Masters event in Cincinnati in August.
Dimitrov made the final after beating recent Paris Masters winner, Jack Sock, who knocked Alexander Zverev out the competition midweek. For Goffin, who’s season hasn’t ended yet, as he embarks on Davis Cup final duties next weekend, created the shock of the tournament, by coming back from a set down to Roger Federer to win in 3 in the other semi-final tie.
Having already beaten Goffin in the group stage, Dimitrov was favourite for the title, but the underdog was a lot harder to beat this time round and forced numerous breaks early on, but it was Dimitrov who held out to take it 7-5.
The second set was just as thrilling with the resurgent Belgian, taking his breaks and clinching a vital final set shoot out. Even though Goffin was the first to have break points, the newly crowned number 3 in the world rankings, held on to save them and break himself before serving out for the title.
Overall, Dimitrov took home £1.3 million in prize money for group game victories and the tournament, where the trophy was handed to him by Boris Becker. “One of my main goals is to win a Grand Slam tournament,” he told BBC afterwards.
