Reporter's 'creepy' Maria Sharapova question for Grigor Dimitrov

Things took a weird turn during Grigor Dimitrov’s press conference at Roland Garros on Thursday when he was asked about ex-girlfriend Maria Sharapova.

Dimitrov takes on Roberto Carballés Baena on Friday for a place in the fourth round of the French Open.

‘AWFUL’: Outrage over 'unacceptable' French Open farce

‘SHAME’: Brutal truth about Serena Williams' withdrawal

On Thursday he was fielding the usual questions from reporters when one took him completely by surprise.

“An off-topic question that you may accept, I hope,” one reporter started.

“Do you still have contacts with Maria Sharapova? I know that you took different paths, but I was always quite jealous of you.

“I'd like to know if you are in touch with her, if you talk, what's she doing? Does she keep playing tennis?”

The Bulgarian found the question rather funny, if not a little awkward.

“You can still be jealous,” he told the reporter.

“No, no, she's good. We have always kept a good friendship, good relationship.

“I mean, I hope you follow her on Instagram. Maybe like this, you know what she [does].

“I'm not worried about her. I think she's in a good place, I think in her life.

“She's also the type of person that when you make such a, you know, such a decision and transition, you know it's for the right [reason] and for the good.

“I don't know. I wish I could tell you more.”

Fans were also a little taken aback by the question, reacting on social media.

Dimitrov and Sharapova’s romance

Sharapova, who announced her retirement from professional tennis earlier this year, dated Dimitrov from 2013 - 2015.

In 2017 she opened up about why things didn’t work out with Dimitrov, saying it was simply a case of bad timing.

“Grigor recently told me...that one of the worst things in life is when you have the right thing at the wrong time,” she wrote in her autobiography.

“It made me think of an evening we spent before the 2015 Wimbledon tournament. He pulled out a book that Wimbledon puts together of previous championships.

“He quietly flipped through the pages of the book until he found a picture of me, in his box, watching his match.

“He looked at me, sad — I thought I saw tears in his eyes — ‘Did you see this? This means everything to me. Seeing you in my box next to my mother.’

“It was then, at that moment, that the emotional pull I had been fighting came to an end. I knew, and so did he, that I couldn’t be that person at this time of my life.

“I was supposed to be focused, getting prepared for my own matches, my own triumphs and defeats, on the largest stage of my career.

“I had been watching his match that day only because I’d lost early at those championships.

“So his good memory was my bad memory. What meant everything to him happened only because I had lost.”

The pair had a funny encounter at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne in January when Sharapova was in the commentary box during Dimitrov’s match.

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.