Wimbledon: Dimitrov's ride of pain suffers another sudden stop

Hindustan Times

4 days ago

Mumbai: Grigor Dimitrov sat on court, left palm clutching the right pectoral area, and laughed almost hysterically as Jannik Sinner sprinted over to check on him Monday night. Bulgaria's Grigor had to quit with an injured pectoral muscle against Italy's Jannik Sinner at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London. (AP)
Moments later, Dimitrov walked on court, the right arm stoically stationary, and wept after being arm in arm with Sinner.
The barely believable events that played out on Centre Court was a microcosm of Dimitrov's tryst with tennis of late – from laughter to tears, from total control to turbulent collapse, from exceptional play to excruciating pain.
Just like that, in a matter of seconds, in a manner most sudden.
Just like that, his Wimbledon ended, his horrors of the past four Slams continued.
The 34-year-old Bulgarian was more than halfway into a realistic upset of the world No.1 when he was up 6-3, 7-5, 2-2 in their Round of 16 clash. Dimitrov was serving seamlessly. The forehands were ripping past the Italian, the slices cutting through his gameplans.
It was Sinner's every little movement that was closely tracked, given he had suffered a fall in the first game that put his elbow and serve under stress.
Dimitrov, with that inverted cap, was flying ahead anyway. Until suddenly, after signs surfaced when he missed a volley at 40-0 in the fourth game, Dimitrov served out wide to hold and clasped at his right pectoral muscle. The third set had started after the players waited for 10 minutes as the Centre Court roof closed.
He couldn't lift his arm, as a collective sense of shock stung the spectators, including Roger Federer. He couldn't carry on, despite the physios taking him off court for a miraculous shot at making him play another point. He couldn't stop crying, even while not forgetting to acknowledge the crowd with a raised left arm and offer a handshake to the umpire with his troubled right, held up with his left hand.
'I don't take this as a win at all,' said Sinner, opting to walk off the court with his good friend and return for a speech instead of an interview.
'We all saw this with his reaction, how much he cares about the sport.'
We've all also seen how good the former junior world No.1 has been in the second wind of his over decade-long pro career. The game is still around and kicking. The mind is still upbeat and fighting. It's the injury-prone body that tends to fall apart in the blink of an eye.
It was at the French Open last year that Dimitrov, a three-time Slam semi-finalist going back to 2014, made the quarter-final of a major for the first time since 2021.
In the five Slams that followed, Dimitrov has been forced into mid-match retirements. Three of them have come in the second week, when serial contenders take over for serious business.
At last year's Wimbledon, it was the Round of 16 against Daniil Medvedev. At the US Open, it was the quarter-final against Frances Tiafoe. Opening-round retirements at this year's Australian Open (against Francesco Passaro) and French Open (against Ethan Quinn) preceded this Wimbledon Round of 16 halt.
None of these sudden stops have carried a pattern. If it was the pectoral muscle this Wimbledon, it was the groin in the last. If it was the knee in New York last year, it was the hip in Melbourne and thigh in Paris this year.
Dimitrov, who has been a frequent top-10 face and a regular challenger for big wins and titles in the Big Three era, has had an injury-plagued ride. Yet it wouldn't stop him from pushing hard.
After his French Open retirement, Dimitrov arrived in London a good five weeks early for recovery and post-rehab training work building up to Wimbledon. Amid seeds tumbling out in the first week, this 19th seed held his own through the first three rounds.
Up next stood the world No.1, a title the Bulgarian has put to shade before (Dimitrov has beaten No.1 Novak Djokovic). The challenge excited him.
'At the moment, I feel great,' Dimitrov was quoted as saying by the ATP before the match. 'I'm pain-free.'
Just like that, two sets up and four games later, he wasn't.