Grigor Dimitrov broke down in tears after being forced to retire from his Wimbledon fourth-round match with Jannik Sinner.
Dimitrov was leading world number one Sinner by two sets when he began to struggle with a shoulder injury.
The 34-year-old collapsed to the Wimbledon turf on Centre Court and called for a medical timeout.
The spectators were hoping for a quick recovery but when Dimitrov returned to the court he told Sinner he was unable to continue.
Dimitrov sobbed as he was helped back to his chair by Sinner, who himself had struggled with an injury problem earlier in the match.
The Bulgarian tennis star even struggled to lift his arm to shake hands with the chair umpire before he left the court in tears, his Wimbledon dream ended in the most cruel circumstances.
An emotional Sinner said: ‘I don’t know what to say. He is an incredible player and we all saw this today.
‘He has been so unlucky in the past couple of years. He is an incredible player who is a good friend of mine. We understand each other very well off the court.
‘Seeing him in this position – if there was a chance for him to be in the next round he would deserve it. I hope he has a speedy recovery.
‘I don’t take this as a win at all, this is just an unfortunate moment for us to witness.
‘He has struggled in 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 and he is one of the hardest working players on tour.
‘Thank you for coming, but this is not the end we wanted to see and it’s very sad. We all wish him only the best – let’s give an applause for him and his team.’
More to follow…
