ATP Tour

Dimitrov 'questioned everything' & was 'frightened' to return after Sinner heartbreak

“Grigor Dimitrov is on his way to interview room two…”

The door opens a moment later.

“Hey guys, nice to see you all.”

“Welcome back, Grigor. Shall we get started?”

He nods, sits down, adjusts the chair slightly.

“Sure. Nice to be back.”

A pause. Recorders on.

“OK, first question for Grigor, please.”

Around 200 metres away, on Centre Court, it was almost a year since everything changed. Three hundred and fifty-five days earlier, on 7 July 2025, Dimitrov was leading World No. 1 Jannik Sinner 6-3, 7-5, 2-2 in the fourth round at Wimbledon and playing some of the most electric tennis of his career.

It was a level of performance that had helped him to a career-high No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings in 2017, the kind that once won him the Nitto ATP Finals, and the kind that, for a few hours on Centre Court, made it feel like time had tilted in his favour again.

Dimitrov was outlasting Sinner from the baseline. Stretching rallies. Taking control of points that didn’t normally bend his way. And then, suddenly, it stopped.

After firing down an ace to hold for 2-2 in the third set, Dimitrov dropped to the grass clutching his right pectoral. At first, there was confusion. Then concern. Then silence. Sinner was the first to reach him, immediately crossing the net, checking on him before the physio arrived. Dimitrov stayed on court for treatment, before briefly disappearing down the tunnel.

When he returned, he was in tears.

He shook Sinner’s hand, barely able to lift his right arm in acknowledgement of the crowd that rose to its feet for him. Sinner walked him toward the exit as the fans in Centre Court stood and watched a match turn into something else entirely.

What followed, away from the applause and the grass of SW19, was something Dimitrov had never really experienced before. A different kind of battle. One played not between the lines of a tennis court, but in silence, doubt, and the long, uncomfortable rhythm of recovery.

“You start questioning everything and you start doubting everything,” Dimitrov said on Saturday at Wimbledon. “I didn't allow [to process] it at the beginning, I was like, ‘It's fine, something happened, no problem’. I cried for two hours in the locker room, came out straight to the hospital, and I was like, ‘OK, good. Now the rehab starts’.

“I had not even had time to be like, ‘Oh my god, what happened’. And then I think little by little, when I was going through the rehab and trying to play again, I was like, ‘Oh my god, will I be able to come back fully? Will I be able to serve again?’ And then all of a sudden you start tossing the ball, and I had the flashback. I was like, 'Oh, if I hit it hard...' It's just very weird inner chatter that I think was not healthy enough. It lingered for a while and I think it truly bothered me.”

Dimitrov has endured his fair share of injury setbacks in recent years, but Wimbledon felt different. It was the fourth consecutive major he retired from mid-match — after the US Open in 2024, the Australian Open in 2025, Roland Garros in 2025, and then against Sinner in south-west London.

But not all retirements land the same way and this one lingered. After walking off Centre Court and leaving London that July, Dimitrov did not return to the Tour until late October in Paris. Even then, his comeback was short lived, withdrawing ahead of his second-round match. What followed Wimbledon was a period he now describes with raw honesty.

“I was frightened of the thought of having to come back on the court again and start hitting," Dimitrov said. "I'm not going to lie, my first hits, even practices were extremely difficult for me mentally to not only swing through, but I had lots of flashbacks, and it was just a very, very uncomfortable feeling. But I knew I had to work a lot on it, and I think not a mistake, but something that I think I could have done a little bit better is I didn't give myself the chance to process what happened, and it hit me later, months later.

“After what happened, I had over 500 messages, like it was incredible, I've never experienced anything like it, even from players, social media, everything. I felt the love, I truly felt the love, and I've been so appreciative.”

Dimitrov began his 2026 season as scheduled in Brisbane, but won just one match across the Australian summer in January. Dimitrov then suffered opening-round defeats in Dallas, Acapulco, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid as well as at ATP Challenger events in Aix-en-Provence and Bordeaux and in Roland Garros qualifying. His only respite came in Indian Wells, where he defeated Terence Atmane before losing to Carlos Alcaraz.

However, the World No. 164 won two matches on grass at the ATP Challenger in Dublin earlier this month before he reached the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event on the same surface last week in Mallorca.

“Those recent matches were very important for me. I got to play six matches in 10 days. Last time I did that was almost a year ago,” Dimitrov said. “I got to look at the positive things now a lot more. I'm very critical of myself. I'm very tough on myself. So I've been working on that as well, because it's frustrating knowing what you can do, but you can’t really do it. But again it's something that I'm facing right now, so I need to see it for what it is and where I'm at, and this is all I have at the moment.

“It is truly tricky out there once you lose the reins a little bit in our sport. It's not the easiest thing. Plus, I never really had to deal with something like that throughout my career. I continue to learn… I guess it's a step in the right direction at the moment.”

Dimitrov will open his Wimbledon campaign against Australian qualifier Dane Sweeny on Tuesday. The wild card, who is making his 16th appearance at The Championships, is ready to give it his best.

“I'm ready for it. Even the thoughts are coming through, that's fine. You have to let them through," Dimitrov said. "I think suppressing is probably one of the worst enemies, especially when you play out there. I mean, picture the amount of thoughts we have going on out there. Even today, I was going in the car, and I told the guys, ‘I'm so nervous’, they're like, ‘Dude, you're playing on Tuesday, relax’. So I was like, ‘I know, but I'm so nervous.’

“But that's a good thing. It means I still care, it means I still love it. I'm excited, of course, but if it doesn't go well, it doesn't go well. At the end of the day, it's not the end of the world... I'll just let whatever thoughts are coming through, and I'll do my best to stay on point and be mentally prepared.”