Novak Djokovic is currently battling against an entirely new generation on the ATP Tour, such is the longevity of the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

Djokovic was at the very top of the ATP Tour for two decades, alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but his fortunes have been middling since his great rivals retired.

The Serbian has struggled against the likes of Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Alexander Zverev, and he has not tasted Grand Slam victory since the 2023 US Open.

Nevertheless, Djokovic continues to play at a high level on the ATP Tour, but he reportedly has strong views about the current state of men’s tennis – according to Grigor Dimitrov at least.

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In an interview with SpilXperten while playing for Bulgaria at the Davis Cup, Dimitrov said: “I’ll be honest with you now. The past years I have kind of distanced myself from the ATP Tour.

“Of course, I am on the Tour, but I have distanced myself from keeping up with certain trends or whatever.” My life has always just been about tennis. In a way, age is just a number, but in our sport the gap increases a lot. You can definitely see that, and it`s not only on the court things have changed. It is also just about interactions. I don`t even know everyone on the Tour now. We can laugh about it, but it’s a bit sad.”

Dimitrov even suggested that Djokovic feels the same as him when it comes to what is currently happening on the ATP Tour.

“I feel the same as Novak,” explained the Bulgarian. “A part of me left with Roger and Rafa. Absolutely. We actually had that talk with Novak, where we talked about the challenges and the obstacles back in the day, you know that era of tennis…

“Without disrespecting any players, that era will always be the most challenging that I have ever had to face. I was not only the chaser, but I was trying to conquer the most massive players all the time. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to fulfill the older you get. It sucks.”

Despite being close to forty years old, Djokovic shows no signs that he is set to retire anytime soon.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion is set to return to action at the China Open at the end of September, in what will be his first appearance at the ATP 500 event since 2015.

The star has an incredible record at the tournament, having won the event six times without ever facing a defeat.