The tennis world now looks somewhat different since the retirements of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
For the better part of two decades the pair’s rivalry and sustained excellence captivated millions of fans and took the game to new heights.
The pair pushed one another to raise their games and having a solid friendship despite their fierce rivalry was something to behold.
Since November 2024 the ATP Tour has been without both players and the World Number 15 Grigor Dimitrov explains why it feels different.
Grigor Dimitrov shares how the ATP Tour is different without Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, along with Novak Djokovic, dominated tennis perhaps longer than any other players before them.
They broke numerous records and provided fans with plenty of spectacular moments that will live long in the memory.
But since two members of the iconic trio have hung up her rackets, the game has had to adjust without them, and Dimitrov explains what that process looks like and how the tour is now different.
“For me it’s just different. I remember playing Berdych first round, Ferrer [second] round, to play you [Del Potro], Roger, Rafa and someone else in the final. Superman could not do that,” Dimitrov said during a Lacoste roundtable discussion on YouTube.
“So that whole part there were more steadier players, I think the gaps are bigger now in my opinion. Overall I guess I am saying is that the ball park of how everyone is, the gaps [are bigger].
“The aura was also very different, not only from these guys, but the guys who were seven, eight, nine,10, 11. They were players who it requires from you to do well. But I feel like the gaps are way different.
“Of course, the young generation are faster and stronger. I even remember back in the day when I got to the quarters of the Masters it was a huge thing.
“Now you have bigger gaps because the consistency isn’t the same. But for me the different part is how different the game that everyone has is, I like that a lot as well.”
What is Grigor Dimitrov’s head-to-head record against Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?
Dimitrov struggled against both Federer and Nadal during their illustrious careers.
Between 2009 and 2021, the Bulgarian played against the 14-time French Open winner on 15 occasions, and claimed just one victory.
That came at the 2016 China Open, when Dimitrov beat Nadal 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals.
Between 2013 and 2019, Dimitrov, who was nicknamed ‘Baby Fed’ early in his career due to his playing style mimicking the Swiss Maestro, played Federer eight times.
Federer won seven successive matches, until Dimitrov claimed victory in their final meeting at the 2019 US Open, which went to five sets.
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