Relieved Sinner through to quarter-finals as Dimitrov retires
LONDON - Top seed Jannik Sinner reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon when Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov retired from their encounter with a pectoral injury after dominating much of the clash and going ahead 6-3 7-5 2-2 on Monday.
Sinner arrived for the Centre Court clash having not dropped serve in 36 games but Dimitrov broke him on the first attempt to grab a 2-0 lead and the elegant 34-year-old played near-flawless tennis to close out the opening set and leave the crowd stunned.
Troubled by a right elbow problem following a fall earlier in the clash, Sinner took a medical timeout five games into the second set after being jolted again by 19th seed Dimitrov, who shook off dropping his own serve late on to double his lead.
Pushed into a corner, Sinner came out fighting but the match turned in an instant when Dimitrov held serve to go level at 2-2 and fell to the turf with the injury, before tearfully throwing in the towel. REUTERS
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