The rising star of world tennis, the 17-year-old Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, will take part in the Mutua Madrileña Masters series in Madrid. Dimitrov will enter the first qualifying round on October 11 2008 with a wild card that he received with the help of Bulgaria's now-retired tennis star Orlin Stanoichev, Dimitrov said at an October 7 2008 news conference in Sofia.

The final in the Madrid series is scheduled for October 19.

In addition to the tournament in Madrid, Dimitrov said that he was going to take part in another tournament by the end of the year, noting that he had received an invitation to participate in a tournament in Basel, Switzerland. His plans included a possibility for playing in another two events in Germany, which to be his final tournaments before the end of 2008 and the start of the first Grand Slam tournament of 2009, the Australian Open.

To improve his physical condition, Dimitrov will not play for most of November and the whole of December, his coach and father Dimitar Gospodinov said.

Dimitrov made the news earlier this year after winning the junior tournaments of both Wimbledon and the US Open, which made him the first Bulgarian to take home a Grand Slam trophy. After wining the prize in the US, he said that it was his final game with the juniors and from then on, he was going to play with the professionals.

Since then, he has managed to win three titles in a men's futures tennis tournament. Currently, he is number 478 in the ATP ranking, with 58 points.

Because of his achievements, he was declared athlete of Bulgaria for July 2008, a recognition which he will probably obtain for September as well. He was also among the 118 Bulgarians nominated in the 17th annual Man of the Year contest, but failed to make the top three.