Jannik Sinner said that he could not accept his progression to the Wimbledon quarter-finals "as a win" following Grigor Dimitrov's retirement in their clash on Monday. 

Sinner was staring at the prospect of an early exit from the penultimate major of the year after Dimitrov raced into a two-set lead on Centre Court. 

But at 2-2 in the third, Dimitrov dropped to the floor in pain after firing an ace past the world number one, and looked visibly in pain as he clutched his pectoral muscle. 

And after a short medical timeout, the Bulgarian returned to the court and said he could not continue, allowing Sinner to progress to the last eight. 

Dimitrov has now been forced to retire from his last five grand slam events. 

At 23 years and 318 days, Sinner became the third-youngest player in the Open Era to reach the men's singles quarter-finals at seven or more consecutive grand slam events, older only than Pete Sampras and Novak Djokovic. 

However, that was an achievement that the top seed in SW19 said he could not celebrate as he expressed his concern for his opponent's health. 

"I don't take this as a win at all. This is just an unfortunate moment for all of us to witness," Sinner said in his on-court interview. 

"He has struggled in the last 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. He is one of the hardest-working players on tour, and it is very unfortunate."

Sinner added, before calling on the crowd to join him in applauding Dimitrov and his team: "This is not the end we wanted to see, and it's very sad. We all wish him only the best."

A sight we never want to see.

Grigor Dimitrov is forced to retire while leading two sets to love. Everyone at #Wimbledon is wishing you a speedy recovery, Grigor pic.twitter.com/qBwiMbq3e2

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2025

Sinner's performance against Dimitrov will be a concern heading into his quarter-final tie with Ben Shelton, who dumped out Lorenzo Sonego earlier in the day. 

He had conceded the fewest games (17) en route to the men's singles round of 16 at Wimbledon in the Open Era, surpassing Roger Federer's record of 19 back in 2004. 

Against Dimitrov, however, he lost 15 games in total, with Sinner acknowledging the stern test he faced against the world number 21. 

"I don't know what to say because he is an incredible player, and we all saw this today," said Sinner. 

"He has been so unlucky in the past couple of years. He is a good friend of mine, and we understand each other very well off the court too.

"Seeing him in this position, if there was a chance for him to play in the next round, he would deserve it. Mostly, I hope he has a speedy recovery."