(July 2, 2026) Just a year ago, in the Wimbledon fourth round, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov was up two sets to none against Jannik Sinner when he tore a right pectoral muscle and was forced to retire from the match. Sinner went on to win the tournament for his first Wimbledon title.
On Thursday, the 35-year-old Dimitrov, who came in as a wild card, pushed himself to advance to the Wimbledon third round with a 7-6(5) 4-6 7-5 6-3 upset over 20-year-old No. 15 seed Jakub Mensik of Czechia.
Last year it was the fifth major tournament in a row in which injury had knocked him out of a tournament.
“I was sad,” the former Top ten player said in his pre-tournament news conference. “I knew that it could have been one of my best chances. I knew it. But in the end this is what happened.”
“You learn. Fear is not a friend,” Dimitrov said to the media after the match. “If you want to go out there and compete at the highest level, you need to push yourself to the limit.
“Why am I here if I’m not putting everything on the line again? If I don’t have that, then there’s not going to be a point for me to be competing anymore on the biggest stage of our sport, here at Wimbledon.
“I had to stay as present as possible, eventually get myself back on the horse, just try to apply my game.”
“Right now I’m in a place where I’m in the third round of Wimbledon,” said Dimitrov.
“Body’s holding up fairly well. There’s really not that much else to add other than that this is okay, this is great, this is in front of me, and that’s what I have to deal with.”
“I honestly don’t have much to say other than I’m so happy to be back and just play tennis in front of you guys,” he said. “That’s it. For me, I’m very emotional. I’m overwhelmed a little bit.
“It’s just a great match today. All I wanted to do is come out and fight. That was my goal. I didn’t think about winning or losing. Didn’t even think about my body to that extent. The atmosphere was just spectacular, as always.”
“You know the past year has been so difficult and again it’s not about winning or losing to get it’s just about conquering myself and playing tennis just like that today, regardless of the outcome.”
Dimitrov will face former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini for a place in the fourth round.
