Grigor Dimitrov hadn't reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in a decade. The only time he had breached that mark was in 2014, when he made the semifinals before losing to Novak Djokovic. But on Monday, the Bulgarian stood on the brink of a stunning upset on Centre Court — just a set away from toppling world No. 1 Jannik Sinner — until a cruel twist of fate left him inconsolable.
Sinner, who had reached the French Open final just last month, hadn't dropped a single set at Wimbledon until the round of 16 clash with Dimitrov. But the 19th seed turned the tide, winning the opening two sets 6-3, 7-5, as the Italian struggled with his own injury concerns.
In the third set, with the score locked at 2-2, Dimitrov suddenly showed signs of discomfort — seemingly in his pectoral muscle. Though he pushed through to deliver an ace, he immediately collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest and shouting, "My pec! My pec!"
Sinner rushed across the court to check on him, while anxious expressions filled Dimitrov's box. Medical staff were quickly summoned.
BBC commentator Andrew Cotter said: "He's feeling that chest and Sinner comes quickly across. This is not good at all for Grigor Dimitrov. And this would be desperately, desperately sad if this is the end, and it looks very, very serious, as if it's a proper strain. We saw it a couple of points before, we saw his body language."
The former Wimbledon semifinalist then walked off the court for further medical assistance but was only gone for two minutes. He was in tears when he returned, conceding the match to Sinner. The two-time Australian Open champion had to offer his left arm to support his right so that Dimitrov could reach the chair umpire and shake his hand. Dimitrov bowed out amid a rousing ovation from the crowd.
{{/usCountry}}The former Wimbledon semifinalist then walked off the court for further medical assistance but was only gone for two minutes. He was in tears when he returned, conceding the match to Sinner. The two-time Australian Open champion had to offer his left arm to support his right so that Dimitrov could reach the chair umpire and shake his hand. Dimitrov bowed out amid a rousing ovation from the crowd.
{{/usCountry}}The Bulgarian, who has been forced to retire in all five of his previous Grand Slam matches, later skipped media duties as Wimbledon issued a statement reading: "Following on-court treatment and after further medical advice, Grigor Dimitrov will not be undertaking any media commitments tonight."
Sinner will face no. 10 seed Ben Shelton in the quarterfinal on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old said: "I don't know what to say. He has been so unlucky in the past couple of years. He is a good friend of mine and we understand each other very well off the court. Seeing him in this position... honestly, if there was a chance of him playing in the next round, he would deserve it. I hope he has a speedy recovery. I don't take this as a win at all, this is just a very unfortunate moment to witness for all of us."