Roger Federer ‘in shock' at disturbing sight of Grigor Dimitrov at Wimbledon
The Bulgarian had already stunned tennis commentators when he took the first two sets from world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in their Wimbledon fourth-round match on Tuesday morning when disaster struck.
Dimitrov left Wimbledon's Centre Court in tears as Sinner was granted a get out of jail free card, trailing 3-6, 5-7, 2-2, when the veteran went down with a painful pectoral injury.
Dimitrov had been serving thunder right from his first service game and had 14 aces compared to Sinner's four.
However, it was serving a final ace out wide when he collapsed onto the court holding his pectoral muscle and shouted out in pain as Sinner rushed to his aid.
Sinner himself had suffered a nasty fall in the opening game of the fourth-round clash and appeared to be suffering discomfort in his right elbow.
The Italian was unable to cope with Dimitrov's varied style across the opening two sets, and was staring at a shock exit when trailing.
Yet the 34-year-old Bulgarian, who has now retired in each of his past five Grand Slam appearances, pulled up holding his right pectoral muscle and was unable to continue.
'Honestly I don't know what to say,' said Sinner. 'He is an incredible player, I think we all saw this today.
'He's been so unlucky in the past couple of years. An incredible player, a good friend of mine also. We understand each other very well off the court too.
'Seeing him in this position, honestly, if there would be a chance that he could play the next round, he would deserve it.'
Sinner realised Dimitrov was in serious need of help as soon as he saw his opponent fall onto the grass.
The No. 19 seed went off court, but he returned just moments later in tears and was unable to continue, barely able to wave to acknowledge the crowd's warm ovation.
'I hope he has a speedy recovery,' said Sinner, 23. 'It's very unlucky from his side. I don't take this as a win at all. This is just a very unfortunate moment to witness for all of us.
'I think already in the last Grand Slams he has struggled a lot with injuries and seeing him now again having this kind of injury is very, very tough. We all saw this with his reaction, how much he cares about the sport.'
Dimitrov's injury woes began 12 months ago at Wimbledon, where he slipped and damaged his knee in the first set of his fourth-round clash against Daniil Medvedev.
He was forced to retire from matches at the US Open, Australian Open and the recent French Open.
Tennis commentators, including Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, expressed their sadness on social media after watching Dimitrov walk off.
'This isn't cool at all. Prayers up for Dimitrov,' Kyrgios posted on X.
Kokkinakis wrote a similar injury had 'ruined' his life for the past five years.
American commentator Patrick McEnroe said he was 'absolutely gutted'.
Leading tennis journalist Jose Morgado noted Federer had been 'in shock'.
'I cannot believe this,' he posted.
'Simply heartbreaking.'
Sinner, into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the fourth consecutive year, will next face world number 10 Ben Shelton, who earlier beat Lorenzo Sonego in four sets.
He is on a potential semi-final collision course with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, but there will be question marks over the Italian's own fitness after his struggles against Dimitrov.
Djokovic had to come from a set behind to defeat Aussie Alex de Minaur in four sets.
The Serbian was also in trouble in the fourth set before finishing the match winning 20 of the final 24 points of the match.
Sinner has never reached the Wimbledon final, going as far as the semi-finals in 2023.
He has played in the past three Grand Slam finals, taking the title at the US Open and the Australian Open and losing the French Open showpiece in a five-set epic against Carlos Alcaraz in June.
In the last eight, Djokovic faces Italian 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli, who defeated former Wimbledon runner-up Marin Cilic 6-4 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 7-6 (7/3).
American 10th seed Ben Shelton was the other early men's victor, defeating Italy's Lorenzo Sonego 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7/1) 7-5 to reach his first Wimbledon quarter-final.
In the women's draw, Liudmila Samsonova, beat Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-5 7-5 to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final.
Russian seventh seed Mirra Andreeva, 18, also reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time with a 6-2 6-3 win against American 10th seed Emma Navarro, who ended Barbora Krejcikova's reign as champion on Saturday.
Andreeva next plays former Swiss Olympic champion Belinda Bencic who made her maiden Wimbledon quarter-final with a 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 victory against Russian world number 17 Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Quarter-finals locked in
Gentlemen's quarter finals:
Jannik Sinner (1) vs Ben Shelton (10)
Novak Djokovic vs Flavio Cobolli (22)
Taylor Fritz (5) Karen Khachanov (17)
Carlos Alcaraz (2) vs Cameron Norrie
Ladies' quarter-finals:
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs Laura Siegemund
Amanda Anisimova (13) vs AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova
Mirra Andreeva (7) vs Belinda Bencic
Iga Swiatek (8) vs Liudmila Samsonova (19)
— with AFP
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