Jannik Sinner rues ‘unfortunate moment’ after tearful Grigor Dimitrov retires while leading by two sets – ‘I don’t take this as a win’

The Bulgarian was on course for a huge upset in the fourth-round match when what appeared to be a pectoral issue forced him to forfeit while leading 6-3 7-5 2-2.

Dimitrov, 34, slumped to the ground holding his right pectoral after landing an ace to keep the third set on serve.

He grimaced in pain as a medical timeout was called and, after receiving treatment off-court, he was forced to retire from a spectacular performance.

It is the fifth Grand Slam in a row where Dimitrov has had to retire with injury, including at Wimbledon last year when he did so against Daniil Medvedev at the same stage.

Sinner, who had been facing an almighty challenge to keep his Wimbledon bid alive, cut a disconsolate figure despite progressing to meet No. 10 seed Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals.

“I don’t know what to say. He is an incredible player and we all saw this today,” Sinner said to applause from the Centre Court crowd.

“He has been so unlucky in the past couple of years. He is an incredible player who is a good friend of mine. We understand each other very well off the court.

“Seeing him in this position – if there was a chance for him to be in the next round he would deserve it. I hope he has a speedy recovery.”

The end-of-match statistics underlined how Sinner had struggled to keep pace with the No. 19 seed until the premature ending.

Dimitrov served 14 aces to Sinner’s four, hit 36 winners to the Italian’s 19 and earned three breaks of serve while having his own serve broken just once.

But he was left needing to support his right arm to even shake the hand of the umpire and wave to the crowd.

For Sinner, it was an experience he took little satisfaction from.

“I don’t take this as a win at all, this is just an unfortunate moment for us to witness,” Sinner added.

“He has struggled in Grand Slams with injuries a lot so seeing him again with this injury is very tough. We all saw by his reaction how much he cares about the sport and he is one of the hardest-working players on tour.

“Thank you for coming, but this is not the end we wanted to see and it’s very sad. We all wish him only the best – let’s give an applause for him and his team.”

Early in the match, it was Sinner who looked to be in physical bother after appearing to hurt his elbow during a fall in the opening game.

Dimitrov broke in the following game and was playing at a high level to keep his seemingly stunted opponent at bay.

The Bulgarian saved break point in game five and went on to serve out an impressive opening set to love.

Dimitrov pounced immediately in set two, breaking in the opening game to cause alarm for the top seed, who called a medical timeout while 3-2 down.

The Italian was wincing as a trainer looked at his elbow but was able to continue and broke back as Dimitrov attempted to serve out the set.

Addressing the issue in a post-match press conference, Sinner explained that it will require further investigation ahead of his quarter-final.

“It happened very early in the match, first game. It was quite an unfortunate fall,” Sinner said.

“I checked the videos a little bit, and it didn’t seem a tough one, but I still felt it quite a lot, especially serve and forehand.

“I could feel it. So let’s see. Tomorrow we are going to check to see how it is, and then we see.”

He added: “Tomorrow we are going to check with MRI to see if there’s something serious, and then we try to adjust it.”

The 2014 Wimbledon semi-finalist Dimitrov regained his composure quickly after Sinner’s medical, breaking back immediately before serving out the set to move one away from a stunning victory.

The Centre Court roof was closed before set three began, causing a delay of 13 minutes, and when play resumed there were no breaks of serve until Dimitrov’s unfortunate injury stopped proceedings.