The rising talent tag has preceded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov for almost as long as the Bulgarian has been in the public eye.
A classy one-handed backhand saw comparisons to all-time great Roger Federer as a junior, while the now 23-year-old was earmarked early as the man most likely to disrupt the dominance of the Big Three at majors.
However, Swiss No.2 Stanislas Wawrinka (Australian Open) and Croatian Marin Cilic (US Open) got the jump on Dimitrov somewhat in 2014, with the pair breaking through for maiden slams.
Far from being discouraged, the junior Wimbledon and US Open winner said he was able to draw confidence from their success.
“All of us have pretty good results in the past year, knocking on the door and it’s good challenge to push each other to be better,” he said.
“(But I think we) still need to do something more than just talking about it.
“I think everyone wants something fresh and something new, and why not us?”
Dimitrov went some way to shedding the built-up hype last year, putting results on the board in his most fruitful season on the ATP tour to date.
The maturing youngster claimed three titles in the first half of the year at Mexico, Romania and London’s Queen’s Club to kickstart a rise, which saw him peak at a career-high mark of world No.8 in August.
Interestingly, the three pieces of silverware came on three different surfaces – hardcourt, grass and clay – showcasing the youngster’s improving versatility.
He also reached Masters semifinals in Italy and Canada and made it to within one game of a Wimbledon final, knocking off defending champion Andy Murray in straight sets in the quarterfinals.
However, the cold hard statistics show that a gap still exists between Dimitrov and the game’s true elite.
He was unable to register a win against the top three in 2014, going down to Federer once, Novak Djokovic twice and Rafael Nadal twice – including in four sets on Australian soil at Melbourne Park in the quarterfinals.
Provided Federer can get past Australian hope James Duckworth on Friday’s night session, the pair will meet on Saturday for a spot in the Brisbane International final.
“I’m happy and I feel really strong, obviously playing two and a half hours (against Jeremy Chardy in Round 2) was good but a bit of a surprise,” Dimitrov said, before using his fleet-footed court coverage to get past the aggressive Martin Klizan in the quarterfinals.
Earlier this week, Dimitrov had the chance to experience Australia’s native code and was put through his paces by two members of local AFL side, the Brisbane Lions.
“My coach (Roger Rasheed) is Australian … and now I can have a bit of a footy match with him,” he said.
“There is something to practice … I think it’s a tremendous effort though what they do, it’s a brutal game.”