Grigor Dimitrov bemoans 'baby' Roger Federer label after beating Swiss at US Open

Grigor Dimitrov says he hopes young players will not have to deal with the pressure of being compared to great players as he did with Roger Federer.

As he came through the ranks, Dimitrov’s style of play earned instant comparisons to Federer and earned him the nickname ‘Baby Fed’

The Bulgarian was even coached for a period by Federer’s old trainer Peter Lundgren.

But apart from winning the ATP Finals in 2017, Dimitrov has largely struggled to live up the promise he showed as a youngster.

Before arriving at the US Open, Dimitrov was in torrid form with just one quarter-final appearance all season.

However, Dimitrov responded in the best possible fashion to his adversity by reaching the semi-finals of the US Open.

And to get there, he needed to record his first-ever win over Federer in the quarter-finals.

Speaking in an interview with the New York Times, Dimitrov was asked about having to cope with the pressure of being the next Federer.

“Younger players coming up, I think they should never be compared to anybody,” Dimitrov said.

“I think they should have more air to breathe, and a lot more time to find themselves first before anything else. I found that out the hard way.”

Dimitrov has been as high as number three in the world but struggled with form, confidence and fitness recently.

And he opened up about the low moments he has had to endure in recent months.

He said: “I think the past six, seven months have been pretty rough for me.

“But I had somebody to lean on, my friends, my family. I kept on believing again in the work, the rehab I had to put behind my shoulder, the exercise, the practice, fixing up the racquet a little bit.

“There were so many things I had to adjust in such a small but big period of time.

“Next thing you know, you’re almost end of the year, you have a result like that. It’s pretty special to me.”

source: express.co.uk