Despite having an abundance of skill, Grigor Dimitrov struggled to compete against the three great players Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Dimitrov discussed the ride he had with the Big 3 in a recent interview.
This season, the rising tennis talent from Bulgaria is finally finding his rhythm. After some incredible performances, he has advanced to the Miami Open finals.
Dimitrov defeated Alexander Zverev in an exciting semifinal encounter that took place in Miami yesterday. When asked if he felt unlucky to be playing in the same era as Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic during the post-match news conference.
Dimitrov said: “Totally the opposite. Totally the opposite. Very lucky. How often do you say I played in an era against the best players and you have beaten them all? It’s great. I’m sorry, but I can live with that. You know, all that, the titles and all this, yeah, it’s great. But the journey, the ride, it was, for me personally, not having these guys around, it’s a little sad. I don’t want to play them, don’t get me wrong (smiling) at the moment, but it’s kind of sad. I love watching them play. I love competing against them, and you can always learn something. I think throughout the years I have had so many quarterfinal matches and third-, fourth-round matches where I had to play against them.”
He further said: ” But that also maybe shaped me to have that mental toughness and to do certain things different at that point in my career, like them. You can certainly learn a lot from each one, very different. I think each one had a very different way of doing things, but each one of them had amazing qualities. I think in a way they are the pioneers of nowadays tennis for us. I don’t know. I think overall, to have players like that with such a diversity that all of them had, Novak is still playing and Andy, as well, but to see that is I think going to be a little bit rare.”
Dimitrov grew up watching Federer, whom he idolized. He was also likened to the Swiss maestro because of the similarity in their playing techniques.
Dimitrov was asked if he ever felt unlucky for playing in the era of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, & Murray
“If you look back on your career, like 10 or 15 years of your career, you are part of that generation which always had to compete against the very best, Big 4, like Roger,… pic.twitter.com/WHtHlGUneX
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 30, 2024
Grigor Dimitrov in 2024
Currently the world no.12, the Bulgarian played his last match on the 29th of March when he beat world no.5 Alexander Zverev 6-4 6-7(4) 6-4 in the semifinal in Miami (draw).
Currently, during this season the Bulgarian owns a composed 20-4 record. Grigor clinched 1 title in Brisbane. Dimitrov was the runner-up in Marseille.
Grigor Dimitrov will face the world no.3 Jannik Sinner in the final on Sunday at 3:00 pm on STADIUM. Their actual head to head record is 2-1 for Sinner.
Grigor clinched 1 title in 2024 in Brisbane. The Bulgarian was the runner-up in Marseille (Open 13 Provence).
Dimitrov won 9 titles in his career: 4 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts, 3 on indoor courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Dimitrov has scheduled to play next in Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte–Carlo). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 7th of April.
Novak Djokovic in 2024
LWWWWWWWWL At the moment ranked no.1, Djokovic played his last match on the 11th of March when he lost to world no.96 Luca Nardi 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the 3rd round in Indian Wells (draw).
This season Djokovic has a compiled 8-3 match record. Novak Djokovic’s best achievement of this year was reaching the semifinal at the Australian Open.
Djokovic has scheduled to play next in Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte–Carlo). He will start from the main draw that will commence on the 7th of April.
Grigor Dimitrov and Novak Djokovic squared off 13 times. The head to head is 12-1 for Djokovic. The last time they played, Novak Djokovic won 6-4 6-3 in the final in Paris (Rolex Paris Masters) in November 2023.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.
Rafael Nadal in 2024
Now ranked no.647, Nadal played his last match on the 5th of January when he lost to world no.34 Jordan Thompson 5-7 7-6(6) 6-3 in the quarter in Brisbane (draw).
Currently, during this season Nadal has a 2-1 win-loss record.
