The China Mail - Sinner into Wimbledon quarter-finals after injury heartbreak for Dimitrov

Sinner himself had suffered a nasty fall in the opening game of the fourth-round clash and appeared to be suffering discomfort in his right elbow.

The Italian was unable to cope with Dimitrov's varied style across the opening two sets, and was staring at a shock exit when trailing 3-6, 5-7, 2-2.

Yet the 34-year-old Bulgarian, who has now retired in each of his past five Grand Slam appearances, pulled up holding his right pectoral muscle and was unable to continue.

"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."

Dimitrov, the 19th seed, served an ace out wide to hold serve for 2-2 in the third set but then collapsed in pain.

Sinner rushed to his aid before Dimitrov went off court, but he returned just moments later in tears and was unable to continue, barely able to wave to acknowledge the crowd's warm ovation.

"I hope he has a speedy recovery," said Sinner, 23. "It's very unlucky from his side. 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."

Dimitrov's 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 was forced to retire from matches at the US Open, Australian Open and the recent French Open.

Sinner, into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the fourth consecutive year, will next face world number 10 Ben Shelton, who earlier beat Lorenzo Sonego in four sets.

He is on a potential semi-final collision course with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, but there will be question marks over the Italian's own fitness after his struggles against Dimitrov.

Sinner has never reached the Wimbledon final, going as far as the semi-finals in 2023.

He has played in the past three Grand Slam finals, taking the title at the US Open and the Australian Open and losing the French Open showpiece in a five-set epic against Carlos Alcaraz in June.

U.Feng--ThChM