The majority of teams at the 24-nation event have standalone skippers, mostly leading former players such as Boris Becker and Marat Safin. But the Bulgarians chose to bestow the honour on Dimitrov and the former world number three has thrived in guiding his inexperienced team. “I wanted to give something back to the boys and just make sure that they learn. Dimitar Kuzmanov gave Bulgaria a winning start by overcoming Alexander Cozbinov 6-1, 7-5 before Dimitrov returned to play doubles with Alexandar Lazarov, falling to Albot and Cozbinov in two sets. “My only goal was, and I’m honest on that, was just to put them together, to make sure we practise together, to make sure they learn something from me.”

Source: The Guardian January 05, 2020 06:00 UTC