Grigor Dimitrov underlined his grass-court pedigree once again on Tuesday at the Vanda Pharmaceuticals Mallorca Championships, where he claimed the 50th tour-level win of his career on the surface.
The 35-year-old Bulgarian produced a polished display to defeat Marc Polmans 6-1, 7-6(3) and reach the second round on his debut at the ATP 250 event. Competing as World No. 164 this week, Dimitrov won a remarkable 96 per cent (26/27) of first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to secure just his third tour-level victory of the season.
“It’s been a difficult time, but I’m very happy at the moment,” Dimitrov said. “I’m trying to lower my expectations on any surface I play, but the first set today was a reminder that I’m still fairly decent. It’s a good step forward for me, but I don’t want to overthink what will happen in the next rounds.”
While Dimitrov reached the quarter-finals of an ATP Challenger event in Dublin last week, Mallorca marks his first tour-level grass-court appearance since last year's heartbreak at Wimbledon. The Bulgarian had opened a two-set lead against World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the fourth round before retiring with injury, the fifth consecutive major in which his campaign ended prematurely.
Following that pectoral injury he suffered against Sinner, Dimitrov played only one more match in 2025, in Paris in October, and had won just two of his 10 tour-level matches this season before arriving in Mallorca. The former No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will next face lucky loser Abdullah Shelbayh and has also received a wild card into next week's Wimbledon main draw.
Men's Grass-Court Tour-Level Win Leaders (Active Players)
| Player | W-L |
| Novak Djokovic | 125-21 |
| Marin Cilic | 85-35 |
| Adrian Mannarino | 77-57 |
| Daniil Medvedev | 55-27 |
| Roberto Bautista Agut | 55-28 |
| Taylor Fritz | 53-27 |
| Grigor Dimitrov | 50-34 |
| Alexander Zverev | 48-24 |
Top seed Luciano Darderi got his title bid up and running on Tuesday evening, when he defeated Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 6-3. The Italian, who is competing as the top seed for the second time in his career after Marrakech earlier this year, next faces Portugal's Nuno Borges.
Ignacio Buse recorded just his second tour-level win on grass with an impressive 7-6(4), 6-3 win over 2022 champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in hot conditions. The Peruvian will next meet Vit Kopriva. Tsitsipas, the former World No. 3, was competing in his first grass-court match of the season.
Miomir Kecmanovic and Fabian Marozsan advanced to a quarter-final meeting after both players won their respective second-round matches on Tuesday. Kecmanovic rallied past Lorenzo Sonego 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, while Marozsan beat fourth seed and 2024 champion Alejandro Tabilo 6-2, 6-3.
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