WimbledonDimitrov has retired in his past five Grand Slam appearances
July 07, 2025
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Jannik Sinner consoles Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian’s retirement from their match at Wimbledon on Monday. By Jerome Coombe
Grigor Dimitrov’s heartbreaking injury struggles continued on Monday at Wimbledon, where the Bulgarian was forced to retire due to injury when leading top seed Jannik Sinner 6-3, 7-5, 2-2.
The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Sinner suffered a nasty fall in the opening game of their fourth-round clash, and was unable to cope with Dimitrov’s varied style across the opening two sets. Yet Dimitrov, who has now retired in each of his past five Grand Slam appearances, pulled up in the third set holding his right pectoral muscle and called the match in tears after two hours.
“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.”
Jannik helping Grigor pack his bag 🥺❤️Wimbledon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/IlkaZHgFjV
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Dimitrov served an ace out wide to hold serve for 2-2 in the third set, but then collapsed to the ground in pain holding his right pectoral muscle. Sinner ran around the net to offer a hand before Dimitrov went off court, but he returned just moments later in tears as he was unable to continue.
Dimitrov first showed signs of the injury after missing a low backhand volley at 40/0 in that game. He swiped across his body to hit the shot before reaching for his pectoral muscle.
“I hope he has a speedy recovery. It’s very unlucky from his side,” added Sinner. “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. He’s one of the most hardworking players on tour and it’s very unfortunate.”
Sinner, who is into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the fourth consecutive year, will next face World No. 10 Ben Shelton, whom he leads 5-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. The 22-year-old American earlier rallied past Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals at SW19 for the first time.
Dimitrov’s series of 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 then retired in the US Open quarter-finals against Frances Tiafoe two months later, citing physical issues.
At the Australian Open in January, Dimitrov retired in his opening match due to a groin injury. Last month at Roland Garros, he suffered a leg injury in his first-round match and was forced to retire, remaining sidelined until Wimbledon.
Dimitrov, the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion, may have entered this year’s grass-court major with tempered expectations, but he found himself causing havoc on the lawns at the All England Club, where he was on the cusp of his second victory over a World No. 1 (also vs. Djokovic, Madrid 2013).
Sinner entered their fourth-round match for the loss of just 17 games — equalling the Open Era record set by Jan Kodes in 1972 — but he was put under pressure in the early stages against Dimitrov. Despite this, the Italian is still on track for his maiden Wimbledon trophy and fourth major title overall.
