Grigor Dimitrov adds former world No. 3 David Nalbandian to coaching team

Grigor Dimitrov will add a former rival to his team: none other than former world No. 3 David Nalbandian. The 2002 Wimbledon Championships runner-up had been working a few years ago with Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, but since then he had not coached any player on Tour.

Dimitrov is looking to give a boost to his form and has already made several changes in his inner circle over the past year. Following his split with Dani Vallverdu at the end of 2025 – after working together in two separate spells (2016–2019, 2022–2025), with Vallverdu being key during Dimitrov’s best years – as well as in his return to the top-10 a couple of years ago.

After suffering an injury at last year’s Wimbledon – when he was facing Jannik Sinner in the fourth round and was two sets up – Dimitrov took a break of several months and chose to make changes to his team. Shortly after parting ways with Vallverdu, he announced the split with Jamie Delgado – another key member of his coaching staff.

The world No. 43 signed at the start of the season Xavier Malisse as his main coach, the former Belgian player who had gained experience with players such as Alexei Popyrin and Lloyd Harris in previous years.

Bulgarian outlet Tenniskafe recently reported, in conversation with Georgi Stomenov – Dimitrov’s agent – that Nalbandian will soon join Dimitrov’s team, although everything seems to indicate that Malisse will continue in the role of main coach.

Dimitrov began the year with a victory in his return to the courts against Pablo Carreno Busta at the Brisbane International. Since then, he has suffered three consecutive defeats, being eliminated in his opening matches at the Australian Open and the Dallas Open this week. His next tournament will be the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, starting on 23 February, which will be the first event in which Nalbandian will be alongside Dimitrov’s team.

The current world No. 42 is looking to build competitive rhythm and urgently needs to return to winning ways if he wants to avoid a sharp drop in the rankings. At the Sunshine Double he will have an important points defence, as he is defending a third round at Indian Wells Open and a semifinal at the Miami Open. If he does not achieve strong campaigns at those tournaments, he could fall to around the top-80 – or even lower.

Nalbandian is remembered as the finalist at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, a tournament in which he fell in the final to Lleyton Hewitt, in addition to having reached the semifinals at least once at each of the Grand Slams. The 2005 ATP Finals champion was considered one of the greatest players never to have won a Grand Slam title.

The Argentine had one of the best backhands in history – unlike Dimitrov, it was two-handed – and he had an epic campaign at the 2007 Madrid Open, where he defeated consecutively Rafael Nadal (2nd seed), Novak Djokovic (3rd seed) and Roger Federer (top seed) to claim the title. He is the only player to have beaten the three members of the Big-3 in the same tournament.

Regarding meetings between Nalbandian and Dimitrov, they faced each other only once – at the end of the South American’s career. Back in the 2012 Queen's Club Championships semifinal, Nalbandian claimed a 6-4, 6-4 victory over a young Dimitrov, who was just 21 years old at the time. Nalbandian advanced to the penultimate final of his career, although he eventually lost to Marin Cilic.