Grigor Dimitrov has been certainly impressed with Jannik Sinner's level at the 2024 Miami Open, but he's not at the same level as Roger Federer, according to the Bulgarian.
Dimitrov has had the opportunity to play against some of the best players in history as much as he spent his early years battling the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic regularly.
He's seen it all from them, including their best days, which gives him a chance to really compare these younger players to them. He was actually asked about that after losing to Jannik Sinner in the Miami Open final.
The Italian has been playing on a crazy level lately, beating basically everybody whom he faced, but for Dimitrov, it's still not comparable to what he saw from prime Federer, for example.
The Bulgarian idolized Federer growing up, so there is a soft spot there, but at his peak, the Swiss Maestro was still the most uncomfortable to play against, and Sinner is not quite on that level yet, according to the former world no. 3.
"I know for me I was going to say the toughest player that I have played at his absolute prime was Roger. Just too funny, actually. I remember a few times even at Wimbledon, once I remember it was just -- I wanted to dig a hole and disappear (smiling)."
"I haven't had that feeling yet against anyone, so I will leave it at that, I guess. Yeah, probably that's going to be the player I felt like, yeah, I suffered the most with."
It shouldn't really come as a huge surprise because Sinner himself would probably laugh at suggestions that his level is anything close to prime Federer. Still, he is playing at the highest level right now. That's why he was only beaten once this year.