Injury once again haunted Grigor Dimitrov when the Bulgarian was forced to retire midway through his Wimbledon fourth-round match against No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner in the early morning of July 8. Dimitrov withdrawing while leading Sinner 6-3, 7-5, 2-2, ending his promising journey at the tournament.
Sinner struggled against Dimitrov's varied play in the first two sets. However, Dimitrov, who has retired from his last five Grand Slams due to injury, stopped in the third set, clutching his right pectoral muscle and ended the match in tears after two hours of play.
Dimitrov suffered an injury in the third set (Photo: Getty).
"Honestly, I don't know what to say. Dimitrov is an incredible player, I think we all saw that today. He's been very unlucky in the last few years. An incredible player, also a good friend of mine, we know each other very well off the court. Looking at Dimitrov in this position, if there's a chance he can play in the next round, he deserves it," Sinner said after the match.
Dimitrov served out an ace to hold his service game at 2-2 in the third set, but then collapsed in pain, clutching his right pectoral muscle. Sinner ran to the net to check on Dimitrov before he left the court. The Bulgarian returned just minutes later in tears, unable to continue.
Dimitrov's first sign of injury came after he missed a low backhand volley at 40/0 in that game. He swung his arm across his body to hit the shot before clutching his chest.
"I hope Dimitrov recovers soon. It's unfortunate for him. I don't see it as a victory. It's just a very unfortunate moment that we all have to witness. I think even in the last few Grand Slams, he's struggling a lot with injuries and to see him get injured like this is very difficult. We all saw that in Dimitrov's reaction, how much he cares about the sport . He's one of the hardest working players on tour and it's unfortunate," Sinner added.
Sinner comforts Dimitrov after the Bulgarian player had to retire (Photo: Getty).
Sinner, who has reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the fourth year in a row, will next face world number 10 Ben Shelton. The 22-year-old American had earlier come from behind to beat Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), 7-5 to reach his first Grand Slam grass-court quarter-final.
Dimitrov's injury woes began 12 months ago at Wimbledon, where he slipped and injured his knee in the first set of his fourth-round match against Daniil Medvedev. He then retired from the US Open quarter-finals against Frances Tiafoe two months later, citing physical problems.
At the Australian Open in January, Dimitrov was forced to retire in his opening match with a groin injury. Last month at Roland Garros, he suffered a leg injury in his first-round match and was forced to retire, sidelined until Wimbledon.
Dimitrov, who won the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals, entered this year's grass-court major with moderate expectations, but the Bulgarian has sprung a surprise in England, where he is on the verge of his second win over a world No. 1 (Djokovic, Madrid 2013).
Sinner entered their fourth-round match having lost just 17 games, equaling the Open Era record set by Jan Kodes in 1972, but he was under pressure in the early stages against Dimitrov. Despite that, the Italian is still on course to win his first Wimbledon trophy and fourth Grand Slam title of his career.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/dimitrov-bo-cuoc-dang-tiec-sinner-may-man-vao-tu-ket-wimbledon-20250708082658401.htm
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