site.btaJuly 7, 2014: Grigor Dimitrov Becomes First Bulgarian Male Tennis Player in World Top 10

On July 7, 2014, Grigor Dimitrov became the first Bulgarian male player to reach the top 10 of the ATP rankings. He continues to be the country's most successful male representative in this sport, later securing a career-high at No. 3 in 2017. 

2014 remains one of Dimitrov's best seasons. He reached the second-highest amount of finals in a year in his career with 7, trailing only behind 2017 with 9. His breakthrough in the top 10 came after an epic quarterfinal loss to world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, titles in Acapulco, Bucharest and London (Queen's Club Championships), followed by his first Grand Semi-final at Wimbledon.

After beating UK's top player Andy Murray in the quarterfinals, Dimitrov entered a 3-hour-long battle against Novak Djokovic, eventually losing 4-6 6-3 6-7(2) 6-7(7).

On July 17, the Monday after the end of Wimbledon 2014, the rankings were updated and Dimitrov debuted in top 10. Through the years, he has accumulated more than 100 weeks among the best ten players in the world. He currently stands at No. 20.

Before Dimitrov, Orlin Stanoytchev was the only Bulgarian male player to reach top 100 with a career high of No. 96.

Following the footsteps of Bulgarian female tennis

While Dimitrov is the only Bulgarian male player to reach such heights in the sport, three sisters from Sofia - Manuela Maleeva, Katerina Maleeva and Magdalena Maleeva - made the world talk about their family as they all reached top 10 between 1984 and 1996. 

They are the only three sisters to share such an achievement.

Manuela won 19 WTA trophies, reaching 14 Grand Slam quarterfinals and two semifinals. She won Bulgaria's only Olympic tennis medal - the bronze in Seoul 1988. Her career-high ranking was No. 3.

Katerina won 11 WTA titles and played a Grand Slam doubles final at US Open 1994. She took part in seven Grand Slam quarterfinals. Her career-high ranking was No. 6.

Magdalena has 10 WTA titles and a quarterfinal at US Open 1992. Her career-high was No.4 in 1996.