Dimitrov did not announce that he was stopping. He said a part of him had already gone.
“I completely share Novak’s feeling. A part of me left tennis when Rafa and Roger retired,” he told SpilXperten. He puts the difficulty in the era itself: “It wasn’t just about chasing them down, it was about taking over and dominating the three most formidable players of all time.” And he adds that the feeling is “hard to find again today, at my age, and that’s a real shame”.
He also described a conversation with Novak Djokovic, in which the two went over the challenges and obstacles of that period. He took care, in the same breath, to say he did not want to offend any player: that era, in his words, simply remains the biggest challenge he ever faced. Which is the most diplomatic way ever invented of saying that the office is quieter now.
It’s very simple: that generation, I said it back in January, it arrived at the wrong moment. Ninety per cent of them win three major titles in another decade, and I’m being kind. Me, in Kitzbühel, in ’92, I play a future top 10: same problem, smaller, fewer cameras. Careful, I’m not saying the opposite of what I said when I called them soft. I’m clarifying.
Dimitrov won the ATP Finals in 2017. He is in Hillerød this week for the Davis Cup second round against Denmark, which means playing tennis while explaining that he is drifting away from it. Somewhere between the warm-up and the interview room, that is a fairly complete description of the sport.
Let’s be clear: I’m not saying I miss Federer and Nadal. I’m saying other people miss them. There’s a difference. I kept watching, me. Every round, every tie. Nobody ever calls me to say it, but I kept watching.
It’s true, we checked: We Love Tennis.
