LONDON 鈥 Top seed Jannik Sinner struggled with an elbow problem and was given an almighty scare before advancing to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon after a cruel twist of fate for his 19th-seeded opponent Grigor Dimitrov who retired injured at two sets up.
Novak Djokovic continued his quest for Grand Slam glory at the All England Club with a battling victory over Alex de Minaur while five-times major champion Iga Swiatek found her grasscourt wings to fly past Clara Tauson.
The drama was reserved for the evening clash on Centre Court as Dimitrov, who had pulled out injured in his last four majors, played exquisite tennis to go up 6-3, 7-5, 2-2 but then crashed to the ground after a big ace to hold serve.
Sinner, who had been hampered for much of the contest by a right elbow issue after slipping and falling to the turf early on, was left feeling sorry for his opponent who threw in the towel after a short assessment by a doctor.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what to say because he鈥檚 an incredible player. I think we all saw this today,鈥 said Sinner, who was by a tearful Dimitrov鈥檚 side while the Bulgarian was attended to.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been so unlucky in the past couple of years. He鈥檚 an incredible player, a good friend of mine also, and we understand each other very well off the court too.
鈥淪eeing him in this position… if there would be a chance that he could play in the next round, he would deserve it. Now I hope he has a speedy recovery. Very, very unlucky from his side.
Sinner later told reporters he would have an MRI scan to check his own injury.
鈥淚t happened very early in the match, first game. It was quite an unfortunate fall. We checked the videos a bit, and it didn鈥檛 seem a tough one, but I still felt it quite a lot, especially serve and forehand,鈥 he added.
鈥淪o let鈥檚 see… tomorrow we are going to check with MRI to see if there鈥檚 something serious and then we try to adjust it.鈥
Sinner next faces American 10th seed Ben Shelton, who beat another Italian in Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(1), 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time, as did Flavio Cobolli, who downed Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(3).
ROCKY ROAD
Djokovic marched into the Wimbledon last eight for the 16th time but the Serbian trod a rocky road before defeating De Minaur 1-6 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to keep alive his quest for a 25th major title to surpass Margaret Court.
Watched from the Royal Box by another great in Roger Federer, the man whose record eight All England Club trophies Djokovic is trying to equal, the sixth seed surrendered the first set in 31 minutes before roaring back to win.
鈥淲e did catch up very shortly,鈥 Djokovic said of his meeting with Federer afterwards.
鈥淲e greeted each other. He congratulated me and said it was a great match. That鈥檚 all. It was a very short greeting, but it was really nice to have him around.
鈥淗e鈥檚 one of the greatest legends of our game. So it always is extra special when he鈥檚 on the stands. I鈥檓 glad to break the curse and win in front of him. It鈥檚 a big relief.鈥
Federer鈥檚 fellow Swiss and former doubles partner Belinda Bencic made her first Wimbledon quarterfinal in nine attempts after dismissing 18th-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6(4), 6-4 in a little under two hours on a breezy Court One.
The 28-year-old Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion shed tears of joy after she finally broke the fourth-round barrier 15 months since giving birth to her daughter Bella and she said she was surprised at her high level. 鈥 Reuters
