Dimitrov talks Wilson racquets, design process

Grigor Dimitrov may have had a mercurial relationship with his racquets in the Istanbul final in May (a spectacle no one will forget anytime soon). But his partnership with Wilson is deeper than meets the eye.

Though the former No. 8's ranking has dropped a bit this year, he upset Gilles Simon at Wimbledon on his way to the third round (successfully halting a six-match losing streak since that fateful Istanbul loss to Diego Schwartzman).

The Bulgarian debuted his Wilson Pro Staff 97S at the U.S. Open last year (a few months before it went on sale for the public). Switching racquets took some time to get used to, but the larger frame eased pressure on his shoulder, increased stability on his shots and added more bite (with Wilson Spin Effect Technology).

The world No. 37 actually got to help design his racquet.

“It’s unbelievable. I think it was one of the coolest things I’d ever done in my life to design a racquet with them and to be part of the whole engineering,” Dimitrov told Baseline earlier this year. “I went to the factory in Chicago a couple of times. Just to go through the whole process to me it’s one of the coolest things.”

The 25-year-old’s fashion sense on and off the court is in check:

Bringing his love for fashion and technology to the design of his Wilson racquets was a natural fit.

“I love design, to create stuff from ground zero is the best for me. I’m always so intense when I talk about that,” Dimitrov said. “To me everything is about the details on my clothes that I’m wearing with Nike right now. I’ve met all the designers. It’s such a fun process for me that I enjoy so much that I sometimes wish it never stops."

Maybe a personalized clothing line with Nike will be his next project, like Roger Federer co-designed with NikeCourt last month, though Dimitrov will need to step up his on-court game significantly to get back to the days when people were calling him "Baby Fed."

Still, he’s done well to keep his prized Wilson in his hand lately, as he looks to turn his season around on hard courts.

“To be able to be part of something you possess and you’re part of it,” Dimitrov said. “It was pretty amazing for me.”