Grigor Dimitrov hires Wimbledon runner-up and former world No 3 as his new coach
Grigor Dimitrov will have a new coach in his player’s box at his next tournament with former world No 3 David Nalbandian confirmed as his new mentor.
World No 42 Dimitrov and Daniel Vallverdu went their separate ways last December with the two working together for eight years over two spells with the first running from 2016 until 2019 and the second stint starting in 2022 until 2025.
Under Vallverdu’s guidance, the Bulgarian rose to a career-high No 3 in the ATP Rankings in 2017 on the back of winning the ATP Finals while he also won his one and only ATP 1000 Masters title at the Cincinnati Open that year.
But they split after Dimitrov slumped in 2019 only for Vallverdu to rejoin the camp again three years later and by 2024 the Bulgarian has returned to the top 10 of the rankings.
The veteran player, though, endured a difficult 2025 season as he retired from his first-round matches at the Australian Open and French Open due to injury, but just when things were starting to look up, he was dealt another blow.
Dimitrov looked set for a stunning win over then-world No 1 Jannik Sinner in the fourth round when he suffered a pectoral muscle injury while leading the Italian two sets to love. He retired with the score 6-3, 7-5, 2-2 in his favour.
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He was forced to miss the US Open and only returned in October.
The 34-year-old hired Xavier Malisse at the start of 2026, and the Belgian will continue to work with him, along with Nalbandian.
According to Bulgarian website Tenniskafe.com, “the news was officially confirmed” by Dimitrov’s agent Georgi Stoimenov.
Nalbandian, who finished runner-up to Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon in 2002, will be part of his staff at the Mexican Open, which runs from February 23-28 in Acapulco.
Who Is David Nalbandian?
The Argentine peaked at No 3 in the ATP Rankings and won the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup (ATP Finals), beating Roger Federer in the final, and two ATP Masters 1000 titles.
Nalbandian is famously known for beating the Big Three in consecutive matches to win the 2007 Paris Masters as he defeated No 2 Rafael Nadal in the quarter-final, No 3 Novak Djokovic in the semi-final and No 1 Federer in the final.
On the other side of the coin, he is also disqualified from the Queen’s Club Championship final in 2012 after he infamously kicked an advertising hoarding that resulted in an injury to a line judge.
He was fined £8,000 by the ATP while he also lost his prize money and had his ranking points docked.
Nalbandian reached only one more final after that, the Brasil Open in February 2013, and retired later that year.
Post-Playing Career
After his retirement, he swapped his rackets for cars as he took up Rallying and competed in the South American Rally Championship while he also made an appearance in the World Rally Championship.
He made a return to tennis in 2021 as he became the coach of Miomir Kecmanovic, but their partnership ended in 2022.
