From Roger Federer's forehand to Novak Djokovic's return: Grigor Dimitrov builds his perfect player

Grigor Dimitrov recently took part in a thought excercise to construct what he believes is the perfect tennis player by putting together defining attributes of greats like Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

In a video posted by the ATP Tour on social media, Dimitrov was asked to come up with the perfect tennis player ever using existing players' skills as building blocks. The Bulgarian began by choosing Roger Federer's forehand, as it never seemed to wilt under pressure during their matches.

"I'll go with Roger's forehand. He never missed it, when he had to miss it against me. I feel like a lot of players have missed a lot of shots, but not him against me," he said.

Dimitrov then picked Kei Nishikori's double-handed backhand, contributing his pick to the versatile options that the Japanese stalwart creates on that wing.

"Backhand - Kei Nishikori. He can literally hit anything from that wing, backhand cross, lob, line, pass through the middle, curve it, get to it, anything," he added.

When it came to the serve, the 32-year-old picked Nick Kyrgios.

"Serve, I'll go for Nick Kyrgios. To generate any type of serve... pretty spectacular," he said.

Dimitrov then propped up Novak Djokovic's sublime return.

"Return - Novak. He's always been able to put the ball on the court, no matter how fast the ball comes," he added.

When asked to pick a slice, the former World No. 3 went with himself.

"I'll pick myself on the slice. One of my first shots that I ever learned how to do, so I really love playing it," he remarked.

Towards the end of the video, Dimitrov insisted that his ideal player must have former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt's fighting spirit.

"Lleyton Hewitt, his competitive nature is pretty amazing," he added.

Grigor Dimitrov has a combined losing record of 2-18 against Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer

Grigor Dimitrov greets Novak Djokovic after their match at the 2013 French Open

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer completely dominated their respective rivalries with Grigor Dimitrov. While the Serb beat the Bulgarian in 11 of their 12 matches, the Swiss maestro got the better of him on seven occasions.

Djokovic won his first two matches against Dimitrov without much trouble. However, the Bulgarian finally flipped the script on him at the 2013 Monte Carlo Masters, winning an electrifying three-set match in the second round. The Serb proceeding to win their last nine matches without much trouble.

The 2017 ATP Finals winner's rivalry with Federer was even more lopsided. The 20-time Major winner didn't drop a single set in his first three wins over the Bulgarian, but experienced stiff resistance from him during their encounters at the Australian Open and the Brisbane International in 2016.

The Swiss maestro then absolutely routed his younger opponent at Wimbledon and Rotterdam, dropping just 12 games across five sets. Dimitrov, however, exacted his revenge on Federer in 2019. He overcame a two-sets-to-one deficit to defeat the Swiss in the quarterfinals, thereby scoring his lone victory over his childhood idol.