Grigor Dimitrov suffers unwanted career first as he loses again at the Paris Masters

Grigor Dimitrov has seen his struggles this year continue at the Paris Masters.

Dimitrov is a former world number three and last year appeared to be at his best form at Wimbledon, as he led Jannik Sinner by two sets to love. This was before disaster hit for Dimitrov, who suffered a heartbreaking pectoral injury during this match which forced him to retire.

The Bulgarian has struggled to rediscover his form since then, other than at Wimbledon, where Dimitrov reached the fourth round again after beating the likes of Matteo Berrettini and Jakub Mensik.

As a result of his drop-off in form, Dimitrov has fallen outside the top 100 this year and was forced to end his season by playing qualifying at the Paris Masters.

Grigor Dimitrov loses in qualifying at the Paris Masters for the first time

Dimitrov is a former finalist at the Paris Masters and had been part of the main draw at the ATP 1000 event in every year since 2012, other than in 2020 when he withdrew from the tournament due to a foot injury.

The first time Dimitrov played the Paris Masters in 2012 was the only previous occasion where he had competed in qualifying at the tournament, but he was still able to progress to the main draw.

However, the same cannot be said for Dimitrov this year, as he lost in the first round of Paris Masters qualifying to Paraguayan Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, who beat him 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3 in his fourth consecutive defeat.

This means that Dimitrov has lost in qualifying at the Paris Masters for the first time in his career and the first time at any ATP 1000 tournament since the 2012 Cincinnati Open.

Dimitrov is the world number 133 in the live rankings, which is the ranking he is set to end the year at with no tournaments on his schedule for the 2026 season.

This means that Dimitrov will have to play in Australian Open qualifying next year for the first time since 2011, with some uncertainty hanging over his future in the sport.