BNP Paribas Showdown 2015: Roger Federer vs. Gregor Dimitrov Schedule, Preview

It may not be for an ATP championship, but the battle for pride and ego takes center stage at Madison Square Garden in the BNP Paribas Showdown exhibition with Roger Federer taking on Grigor Dimitrov. 

The exhibition match will happen on Tuesday in the world's most famous arena, though it's not the only showcase battle. In addition to Federer vs. Dimitrov, a legends match between Monica Seles and Gabriela Sabatini is on the schedule. 

Seles vs. Sabatini is also tinged with nostalgia, as the two stars are recreating their legendary showdown from the 1990 WTA Championships that was won by Seles and gave her nine tournament victories that season. 

Here's a look at the schedule for the BNP Paribas Showdown and what to watch for when the action gets underway. 

Match	Start Time (ET)	Watch
Monica Seles vs. Gabriela Sabatini	7:30 p.m.	ESPN3
Roger Federer vs. Grigor Dimitrov	When 1st match ends	ESPN3 (Tape Delay on ESPN 2 at 11 p.m. ET)

Preview

Kamran Jebreili/Associated Press

There seems to be no limit to Federer's greatness. We keep expecting the bottom to drop out because he's getting old, 33, and doesn't always dominate the way he used to. Yet when you look at things right now, even though the season is still early, he's 11-1 with two titles in three tournaments. 

Federer's last win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships included a victory over Novak Djokovic in the finals. He told Christopher Clarey of The New York Times that win resulted from playing "good, committed tennis" after a disappointing finish at the Australian Open. 

Despite all that success, as well as a renewed focus on the sport, Federer did say to reporters (h/t Reuters) on the eve of his BNP Paribas Showdown that there's one title he would prefer to win at least one more time:

"It would be my favorite choice if I had a choice right now...I'd love to win Wimbledon. I think it's possible, and I think if I win Wimbledon it's more cool for me personally, and my team and Swiss people and my fans," Federer said. 

Before he gets to the All England Club, Federer will lock horns with Dimitrov for the second time in 2015. Their first match was a one-sided demolition by Federer, losing just four games in the semifinals of the Brisbane International. 

That's been the story of their short rivalry thus far. In three matches, Federer has three victories and hasn't dropped a set. Dimitrov has been close to breaking through a couple of times, taking Federer to a tiebreaker at the Swiss Indoors Basel in 2013 and 2014, but he couldn't get over the hump. 

Dimitrov has been having a tough time so far in 2015. He's fallen from No. 8 in the world rankings last year to No. 11 and has lost in the second round of his last two tournaments to unranked opponents. 

The 23-year-old has also been trying to overcome the unfortunate stigma that was once heaped upon him of being "Baby Fed."

In 2013, tennis analyst Darren Cahill told Clarey that there were some valid reasons for the comparison:

"

I'm sure Grigor doesn't like it that much, and I'm sure Fed has a bit of a wry smile about it, but the comparisons are there. So I don't think it's bad for the public to make those comparisons. In the end, it's going to be up to Grigor to step out of those shoes and step into his own shoes, and I think he's on his way to doing it. 

"

Yet here we are, in 2015, and Dimitrov is still searching for his first major championship. He is coming off his best season as a professional, winning three tournaments last year, but he didn't have to go through Federer, Djokovic or Rafael Nadal in any of them. 

That's where this exhibition match can be something bigger to Dimitrov. Federer has been in bigger matches throughout his career and won many of them. That's how you get to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. 

Dimitrov, while still young with plenty of potential, is searching for the signature win that launches him into the top tier of players in the world. There have been moments when that seemed like it was coming, but nothing came of it. 

Sometimes an exhibition match is just an exhibition. For Dimitrov, being able to win here would provide the kind of confidence boost that can help him live up to the unfortunate moniker that was placed on him coming up the ranks.