Grigor Dimitrov insists that tennis not having Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray playing will be ‘sad’. Federer retired in 2022 while Nadal and Murray have said that 2024 will likely be their last year on the professional tour. Djokovic remains at the top of his game but turns 37 in May and is in the twilight of his career.
Dimitrov hit back at suggestions that he was “unlucky” to play in the same era as the four legendary players. It was put to the former World No 3 that he could have come closer to winning a Grand Slam had Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray not been around after he booked his spot in the Miami Open final by defeating Alexander Zverev.
But the Bulgarian shot down that theory and insisted that it will be ‘sad’ when all four players are no longer around. The 32-year-old said: “Totally the opposite, actually. Totally the opposite. Very lucky.
“How often 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, it’s great. But the journey, the ride, it was, for me personally, not having these guys around, it’s a little sad.”
Dimitrov smiled and quipped: “I don’t want to play them, don’t get me wrong 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. 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.
