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EXCLUSIVE: Grigor Dimitrov and Maria Sharapova hoping to be winning Wimbledon couple

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JUST IMAGINE. Grigor Dimitrov and Maria Sharapova, king and queen of Wimbledon, dancing together a week on Sunday at the Champion’s Ball.

By: Matthew DunnPublished: Mon, June 23, 2014

Because the Bulgarian who displayed his grass-court form by winning Queen’s last week is certainly imagining it.

Exactly 40 years ago, a young Jimmy Connors escorted fiancee Chris Evert onto the dancefloor to mark the end of Wimbledon, the only other occasion on which the men’s and women’s singles champions have been romantically linked.

Forever enshrined in the Championships’ folklore, the tradition of the two winners sharing that first dance actually ended in 1977. But Dimitrov wants to revive the practice for 2014.

“We are pretty far from that at the moment, but we have got to dream big,” Dimitrov said with a charming twinkle in his eye. “I always like to think outside the box so it is something for me to visualise.

“It would certainly be a big moment in our lives. It would be fantastic. For sure that would be something to remember.

“I was at the event when I was junior champion in 2008, but I didn’t dance with anybody. I was still only 17, so I just played it cool.

“I was the biggest tennis fan ever still and it was only afterwards that I realised how great it was to be part of that aftershow party. Ever since then I have wanted to get back there. And it would be even better if I had Maria on my arm!”

The self-assured but unassuming 22-year-old is the epitome of relaxed charm off the court. When a man appears to have everything, the green-eyed monster within some of us hopes it has made him unpleasantly full of himself. Sad to report, Dimitrov comes across as a decent sort of bloke.

Strong enough to power his way back from match-point down to victory at last week’s Aegon Championships, but at the same time soft-hearted enough to admit he enjoyed the 2004 film ‘Wimbledon’, which starred Paul Bettany and Kirsten Dunst as romantically-entwined tennis players.

“Maybe not just Hollywood, eh?” he quipped, with another brief smile.

We were perched on two chairs in the busy corridor of the plush members’ area at Queen’s. I am not used to quite so many well-heeled ladies stealing furtive glances towards my table; Dimitrov took it all in his stride.

For most of the last 18 months his “private life” has invariably got somebody staring.

The romance with Sharapova was first “outed” in December 2012 and initially he was reluctant to speak about it as very much the “plus one” of a global star.

Now the couple appear to have grown closer together and, though still the junior partner by five years and £16m in career earnings, Dimitrov feels more confident speaking for the couple.

At first glance, when they strolled through Wimbledon village 10 days ago holding hands, they looked like any other young couple soaking up the sunshine. Then you spot the photographers 20 yards behind them.

Just ask another former women’s No1 Caroline Wozniacki and golfer Rory McIlroy, who called off their engagement last month, how hard it is building a relationship in a goldfish bowl.

“I don’t know about Caroline and Rory,” Dimitrov said. “What happens will happen. It is part of the game and it is not easy to keep things going when you have two driven competitors who both want to be No1 in the world. You have got to dedicate yourself to what matters the most.

“Some people believe they need to show an entire love for the game. I am a different believer. I am my own breed. But it is not easy.

“You have got always every single eye on you when you go to breakfast, a restaurant, anything else. You have to fight through it, in a way. Try to live your life as normally as you can.

“Neither of us takes ourselves too seriously and I think that is important. I never take myself seriously at all!”

Dimitrov’s feet are so firmly on the floor that even he has to shave off his girlfriend’s superstar status in order for him to make it feel real.

“In a way, like in many tennis fans’ shoes, she is Sharapova for me,” the star-struck lover in him feels. “But she is Maria when we get home.

“That is something that I treasure and what I love when I am outside of the game. That is something that, for me, keeps everything very well structured. It seems to be working!”

And some. Barely inside the world’s top 50 when he started dating Sharapova, this week Dimitrov has risen to become Wimbledon’s 11th seed.

Forget Sharapova. Most people would have to sleep with the tournament director to achieve that.

“I never take anybody for granted but I am aware some people do take me for granted,” Dimitrov said.

Wimbledon be warned. Sharapova’s fella is ready to make a name for himself.

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