I cried for a few hours in the locker room," Dimitrov recounts about his unfortunate withdrawal at Wimbledon against Sinner

Grigor Dimitrov's withdrawal in the Wimbledon round of 16 was heartbreaking for many tennis fans, as the Bulgarian was playing impeccable tennis that day to take a two-set lead against world number one Jannik Sinner.

Betrayed by his body at the start of the third set, Dimitrov experienced one of the most difficult withdrawals of his career. A moment he reflected on in an interview with his sponsor Lacoste:

"Since I left the court, I haven't been thinking about what happened. It was a tough moment. It was physically painful, but that's not what affected me the most. It was more the mental aspect of that withdrawal that hit me—it was surreal.

When I got to the locker room, I cried for a few hours. Then my mindset completely changed. I got up, took a shower, and was already focused on rehabilitation."

The 2017 Masters winner also spoke about his summer away from the courts: "At one point, I was even busier than when I play tennis. It was quite strange. I found a good balance and I try not to stress myself too much.

There's always something that brings me back to tennis. I always try to stay in shape and motivate myself to give my best. Rehabilitation is taking a bit longer than we thought, but at the same time, I don't need to rush my return for now.