Grigor Dimitrov Retires In 5th Straight Major, Falls To Jannik Sinner At Wimbledon

Grigor Dimitrov continued his unlucky run of injuries at majors.

The 34-year-old Bulgarian retired in a fifth straight Grand Slam while leading world No. 1 Jannik Sinner 6-3, 7-5, 2-2 in the third set of their fourth-round encounter at Wimbledon.

“You can’t make this up, it’s so sad,” John McEnroe said on ESPN.

Dimitrov had been 71-3 at majors when leading two sets to love, and 21-2 at Wimbledon.

No. 19 Dimitov appeared to hurt his right pectoral muscle hitting a volley and, after holding for 2-2 in the third, fell to the ground and said, “Oh, my pec.”

He took a medical timeout during which he was attended to by medical staff and Sinner came over to support him. After Dimitrov left the court for a short period, he came back and retired. Sinner helped him load his rackets and gear into his bag.

“Very, very unlucky from from his side,” Sinner said on court. “I don’t take this as a win at all. You know, this is just a very unfortunate moment to witness for all of us and and I think already, in the last Grand Slams, he struggled a lot with with injuries. And seeing him now again, having this kind of injuries is very, very tough. And we all saw this, you know, with his reaction, how much he cares about the sport.

“He is one of the most hard working players on tour. And it’s very unfortunate. Thank you for coming, but this is not the end we wanted to see, and it’s a very it’s very sad. And we all wish him only the best.”

Dimitrov had already achieved the “Medical Slam,” retiring at each of the previous four majors with injury. He led American Ethan Quinn two sets to one at Roland Garros before retiring in the first round.

Dimitrov had lost 12 straight matches to world No. 1s – and this might have been the biggest win of his career.

“It would be the most satisfying win of his life if he could pull this off,” McEnroe said during the match.

Sinner was on the ropes but now gets a pass into the quarterfinals where he will face American Ben Shelton on Wednesday. No. 10 Shelton advanced in four sets over Lorenzo Sonego of Italy earlier Monday.

“He’s a lucky man right now,” McEnroe said of Sinner. “Could he have come back even if Grigor was healthy? Absolutely, but there was something special going on for the veteran.”

No. 6 Novak Djokovic, who could meet Sinner in the semifinals, also advanced with a four set win over No. 11 Alex de Minaur.