Injury Forces Dimitrov to Retire, Sinner Advances at Wimbledon

Tearful exit follows dominant performance against world number one.

In a heartbreaking turn of events at Wimbledon, Grigor Dimitrov was forced to retire due to injury while leading against world number one Jannik Sinner, leaving the Bulgarian in tears and Sinner advancing to the quarter-finals.

Dimitrov’s Dominance Cut Short

The match was poised to be an upset as Dimitrov, displaying remarkable form, had taken a commanding lead of 6-3, 7-5, 2-2 before disaster struck. After serving an ace, the 34-year-old clutched his right pectoral muscle in obvious pain.

Sinner immediately rushed to his opponent’s side to offer assistance. After receiving medical attention on and off the court, a clearly distraught Dimitrov conceded the match, shaking Sinner’s hand amidst a standing ovation as he left Centre Court.

This marks yet another injury setback for Dimitrov, who has had to retire from his first-round matches at both the Australian Open and French Open earlier this year.

Sinner’s Unwanted Advancement

While Sinner progresses to the quarter-finals at SW19 for the second time, he acknowledged, “not the way we wanted it to end.” Ironically, Sinner himself had taken a medical timeout during the second set due to an apparent elbow issue stemming from a fall earlier in the match.

Sinner is scheduled to undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the elbow injury. “It was an unfortunate fall – I checked the video and it didn’t seem a tough one, but I still felt it a lot during serve and forehands especially,” he stated at the post-match conference.

Recurring Injury Woes for Dimitrov

Since the start of the 2020 season, no player has retired from ATP Tour matches more often than Dimitrov. This latest instance marks his 12th retirement in that period. According to the ATP Tour, Dimitrov has a 27.3% retirement rate, significantly higher than the tour average of 6.2% (ATP Tour).

This Wimbledon exit also signifies an unfortunate pattern, with Dimitrov retiring injured in each of his past five Grand Slam appearances, including the recent French and Australian Opens.

Adding to the emotional weight of the moment, Roger Federer, whom Dimitrov was once likened to, watched from the Royal Box, visibly concerned as Dimitrov’s tournament ended in such a painful manner.

Sinner Initially Outplayed

Prior to the injury, Dimitrov had proven a difficult opponent for Sinner. The young Italian had only dropped 17 games and spent a little over five hours on court reaching this stage.

Serving impressively with 14 aces, it was ultimately the strain of those serves that led to Dimitrov’s injury, marking a bitter end to a promising run at Wimbledon.