Grigor Dimitrov is in the 2023 Paris Masters final, and to say he was happy about it would be selling it quite short because he was overjoyed.
Is it a wonder that Dimitrov was so happy about it? The Bulgarian has struggled since his major success in 2017, but now he's back to his best tennis. No controversies, very few questionable situations, and just an overall solid approach to the sport and fans.
He worked patiently and competed to the best of his abilities, but things didn't quite work out in recent years. His last really big year was in 2017, when he won a couple of trophies, and since then, he'd produced a few good performances here and there, but there wasn't any consistency to it, until this year at least. This year has been his best in years.
He's played well all year long but didn't really go too deep in many events, which caused him to fly under the radar. Not many people paid attention to him, but as he started to peak in recent weeks, we all got there.
He downed Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday to book his first Masters final since 2017 and was very happy about it. His celebration after winning the final point was marvellous, and the adrenaline didn't let go of him that easily.
While signing the camera, as it's usually done by winning players in tennis, Dimitrov actually broke it, causing the cameraman to burst out laughing. It was a hilarious scene, which you can see below, but imagine what would happen if he actually won the title on Sunday.
He plays Novak Djokovic, so that's a big question mark, but stay with us to find out. After his semifinal win, the Bulgarian was really happy about his result.
"I want to win or lose on my own terms. That brings me back again to another point, how everything has been happening on and off the court in my life is the same thing. I can control my attitude, and I don't want to feel sorry for myself for the past years."