2024-09-05 08:15:34
Alexander Lazarov announced that he will no longer play for the Bulgarian national tennis team.
The 26-year-old Lazarov, who was as high as 272nd in the world rankings, is currently recovering from a leg injury. He last played at the Challenger in Skopje in May, after which he spent a period of rehabilitation with the doctors of the Italian football giant Juventus in Turin. Lazarov underwent surgery for a torn Achilles in May 2023, after which he played just five matches, three of them in doubles, and underwent a repeat surgery in July.
He was left out of Bulgaria’s World Group II match against Salvador in the men’s Davis Cup team tournament on September 14 and 15 in Plovdiv.
“I want to announce that I am finally ending my involvement with the national team. I want to wish the boys the best of luck in the upcoming Davis Cup match, some of my greatest memories were with you and I will certainly remember them for the rest of my life.” , wrote Lazarov, who has 11 wins in a total of 19 singles and doubles matches for the national men’s selection since his debut in 2016.
He accused the Bulgarian Tennis Federation of the attitude towards him and the lack of support during his health problems, as well as diverting part of the 15 thousand BGN allocated by the Ministry of Sports for his treatment.
“I’ve never been one to keep quiet when something isn’t right. That’s why I’ve always been criticized, but people haven’t been able to understand that it motivates me and makes me even stronger. Time is many things to be understood by those who really support and enjoy Bulgarian sport,” he added.
Lazarov also added that he is only now explaining why the best Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov has not played for the national team for years.
“For the people who sometimes still wonder why Grigor Dimitrov has refused to play for the national team for years now, I will say only one thing, but before that I would like to apologize to both him and his entire team. I want to I apologize for bringing up the subject last year and expressing my disappointment that he wasn’t playing with us Australia I felt like a real tennis player for the first time in my life, thanks to his choice to play doubles together, as well as the belief from his team that I was becoming something big in this sport a moment that makes me feel proud. Unlike many people, when I make a mistake, I have no problem admitting it. Because of better actions and manners on the part of BFT, an athlete like Grigor can never he has the necessary respect to play for the national team. It took me a while to figure it out, but now it’s BFT’s turn to figure out why they lost him for good and why from today on they’re also losing me,” Lazarov also wrote.