LONDON: Jannik Sinner’s route into the last eight at Wimbledon this year will be something he will not forget for the rest of his career.
The world No.1 looked to be on the verge of an exit from SW19 as Grigor Dimitrov valiantly raced to a two-set lead before his body betrayed him. Tied at 2-2 in the third frame, the Bulgarian hit a serve and immediately dropped to the ground holding his pec region. He tried to seek treatment from the medical team, but it was evident for to everybody how serious it was, leaving Dimitrov no option but to retire. Making it the fifth time in a row he has done so at a Grand Slam.
“He was playing incredible tennis for two sets. It’s not the way you want to finish a match,” Sinner commented during his press conference.
Besides the trouble caused by Dimitrov, Sinner was also facing a issue with his own body. After falling on the court, it was visible that he was suffering from a right elbow pain. Resulting in him having a medical timeout during the second set. Then in the third frame, he was seen shaking it.
Sinner is set to undergo an evaluation on Tuesday to look further into the issue to see how severe it is and if it threatens to end his Wimbledon bid. He and Flavio Cobolli are currently still in the running to become the first-ever Italian player to win a singles title at Wimbledon.
“It happened very early in the first game,” he said of his elbow.
“It was quite an unfortunate fall. I checked the videos a little bit, and it didn’t seem tough, but I still felt it quite a lot, especially serve and forehand.”
“I could feel it. So let’s see.”
The setback comes as the 23-year-old has holes in his team after recently firing physiotherapist Marco Panichi and fitness trainer Ulises Badio. That decision was made shortly after he lost to Alexander Bublik in Halle, Germany.
“They have good ATP physios, in any case,” Sinner assured. “The doctor’s good. We are going to check with an MRI to see if there’s something serious, and then we’ll try to adjust it.”
There is little time for adjustments with a quarter-final showdown against Ben Shelton set to take place in less than 48 hours on Wednesday.
“It’s going to be a problem in two days,” he said of Facing Shelton.
“Now I have to focus on other stuff first and hopefully be 100%.” He added.
