He’s captain and motivator, singles and doubles player and one of the form men early in the tennis season.

Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov has plenty on his plate and is hungry for more.

The world No.20 has taken on a dual role at the ATP Cup, leading the Bulgarians and playing in all matches so far.

With his next best ranked teammate Dimitar Kuzmanov at No.423 in the world and Dimitrov his country’s greatest-ever player, he felt it was both an honour and obligation to take it all on board.

“I think, you know, my dad was the one who told me how to play tennis, and when I was chosen to be a captain, he was, like, ‘Oh, now you’re going to see what is it to be on the other end’,” Dimitrov said.

“And I really did and I am. But I’m enjoying it. I never thought I could do like the whole double role, but I took this on board. I wanted to give something back to the boys and just make sure that they learn.”

Dimitrov has won his two singles matches to date and has his side on the cusp of making the quarter-finals.

He admitted not playing the typical role of the selfish singles star had done him some good.

“This time I couldn’t just think of myself and how to get ready for my match for whatever, 11:30, 12:00. So I just had to build up the team a little bit for today, and after that it was just all about the game,” he said.

Edging back to his best after shoulder issues and poor form saw him slump from a career high of No.3 in the world to No.78 last year, Dimitrov had a dire run of seven losses from eight matches in the lead-up to the US Open.

But Flushing Meadows proved a turning point, the 28 year-old beating Roger Federer en route to the semi-finals.

A 2017 Australian Open semi-finalist, he’ll be looking to go deep into the second week of the season-opening grand slam.