He had prepared for the match perfectly, and his execution was even better," Sinner reflects on Dimitrov's level, forced to retire at Wimbledon
The Wimbledon round of 16 ended on an unfortunate note with Grigor Dimitrov retiring due to a muscle injury while leading two sets to love against Jannik Sinner.
At 34, the Bulgarian has now suffered five consecutive retirements in Grand Slam tournaments. During the press conference, Sinner had nothing but praise for his opponent:
"He served incredibly well, with great precision and speed. He managed to perfectly adapt his game to the windy conditions. He had prepared for the match flawlessly, and his execution was even better. After that, once the roof was closed, it was hard to predict what would happen, but there were some great rallies early in the third set.
I tried to stay mentally engaged. As I said on the court, he was unlucky after playing extraordinary tennis for two sets. He showed the full extent of his talent. This is obviously not the way you want a match to end. I hope he recovers quickly."
The reigning Australian Open champion also commented on the condition of his right elbow after receiving treatment in the second set:
"It happened very early in the match, in the first game. I watched some replays of the fall—it was a bit of bad luck. It didn’t seem too serious, but in the moment, I definitely felt it. Especially on serves and forehands. We’ll see how it is tomorrow.
Wimbledon