Grigor Dimitrov has made another appearance on Iguales, the official Mutua Madrid Open podcast hosted by Jaime Gravesen. The Bulgarian, invited for the second year to the show, spoke about Madrid, music, coaching, flow, and his one-handed backhand. One topic frequently crops up during the conversation; in a sport filled with information, stimuli, and tension, Grigor strives to operate with as little noise as possible, both on and off the court.

The Bulgarian says Madrid helps him. Dimitrov, who spent several years living in Barcelona, confesses that coming to the Spanish capital each season feels “relaxed and easy”. “I love the pace of life, the food, the different restaurants, being able to walk around in the centre, visit the markets…”, he explained to Gravesen. With Spring in full bloom, and summer just around the corner, it’s hard not to enjoy yourself in the Spanish capital.

Asked about the music he listens to while exploring the city, the former ATP Nitto Finals champion explained that his taste hasn’t changed much over the years, although lately he’s become more ‘jazzy’. “When I’m having treatment, I just want a very nice chill vibe for a bit”, he said. “I try not to overstress, I just try to calm my nervous system down a bit”. Next month he’ll turn 35 and, he says, this stage of his life has forced him to reconsider some of his routines: “I have to work on different parts of my life”.

The need to slow things down is directly linked to his approach to training. Dimitrov spoke in detail about his relationship with his coaches and how, over the years, he has refined what he needs from them. For him, coaching isn’t a fixed formula. “It’s a combination between not only players and the coaches. I think it’s also from one character to another character”, he explained. Each stage of a career has new demands, and what a player asks of a coach evolves, and vice versa.

Now, with two coaches in his team again and David Nalbandian as one of the key voices in his circle, Dimitrov feels that this structure is helping him. However, it isn’t because there are more opinions, but because those opinions are working in a similar direction. “Having two coaches again, both with a similar vision of the sport, is certainly helping me”, he noted. With his own experience from so many years on the tour, he is well aware of what works for him and what doesn’t. In this regard, Dimitrov has always wanted to limit the information that reaches him during matches. “There’s already a lot to think about on court”, he said. “You have to make decisions in split seconds and, if you add more information to your preparation, you risk becoming mentally overloaded”. He admits that he is something of an overthinker –“I’m one of those people who think too much”–, which is why he needs to filter things out. In his case, working with the team isn’t about receiving a long list of instructions, but about choosing the right messages. “I need to dose what I take in from outside,” he explained. Communication with his coaches, therefore, must be “at a very high level”, but also “direct” and “precise”. Useful, clear, timely information amid the noise, rather than a barrage of instructions.

In the era of on-court coaching, Dimitrov champions the idea that saying less can help you play better. For him, the relationship works best when the message is clear, and too much information can sometimes get in the way. Whether it be jazz, Madrid, or the tennis court, Dimitrov seems in no doubt about what he’s looking for at this stage of his career: to compete with a clear enough mind to listen to himself.