Sinner's first Wimbledon title comes with asterisk after 'tough moment' comment
Jannik Sinner is Wimbledon champion but admits it was a "tough moment" when he was allowed to progress from the fourth round when Grigor Dimitrov retired injured whilst being two sets up.
The Bulgarian, a former semi-finalist at SW19, looked like he was going to deliver the biggest upset of the fortnight when he threatened to down the World No 1 a week ago. He had recaptured his best form and looked on course to succeed on the grass.
However a pectoral injury ended his fairytale and he retired early in the third set, landing Sinner a get out of jail free card in the process. The Italian would never look back from that moment on, but found it difficult to accept his passage into the last eight.
Sinner confessed: "I don't want to get too close. We are good friends, yes, but it's a very tough moment. For me going there and talking, I don't think it's the right moment. Yeah, I don't know anything at the moment."
The Italian, who had won three Grand Slams at that point, confessed he didn't see it as a win but nevertheless it helped set him on his path to his first victory at the All England Club.
He said on Centre Court: "I don't take this as a win at all, this is just an unfortunate moment for all of us to witness. He has struggled in the last Grand Slams with injuries a lot, so seeing him again with this injury is very tough. We all saw by his reaction how much he cares about the sport. He is one of the hardest-working players on tour and it is very unfortunate."
Sinner would only drop one more set en route to claiming the Wimbledon title on Sunday. He overcame Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals and then downed Novak Djokovic for the second time in a Grand Slam semi-final this year - both victories coming with minimal fuss.
The Italian then recovered impressively after losing the first set to Carlos Alcaraz in the final, winning the next three with a break of serve to land his first Wimbledon title. Sinner faced a three month ban for doping offences earlier this year, and never thought he'd be able to return and reach such heights so soon.
He said: "I would have not believed, no, because it's so difficult already to arrive to the later stages of Grand Slams. Even if you're in great shape and you have the best preparation ever, it's so difficult.
"Standing here as a finalist in Roland Garros, and when that moment was over, I felt like I did something great because it has been not easy. Coming here and winning Wimbledon, it has been amazing."
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