GRIGOR DIMITROV was forced to retire from Wimbledon after a nasty fall.
The Bulgarian raced into a 3-0 lead against the No5 seed Daniil Medvedev on No1 Court.
However, he slipped during a rally at 3-2 – although he carried on playing the long point – and had clearly done some damage to his leg.
Dimitrov, 33, bravely battled on as Medvedev turned the match on its head.
He underwent a medical time-out at the changeover for 4-3.
And after serving to start the 5-3 game to stay in the first set, the No10 seed was clearly struggling too much to continue.
His serve on the opening point of the ninth game was routinely returned by Medvedev into the middle of the court.
But crocked Dimitrov hopped on the spot and bent over double as the ball whistled past him in distressing scenes.
The former world No3 and three-time Grand Slam semi-finalist appeared to try and test out the knee and thigh but resigned himself to retiring.
So with a grimace then a shake of the head, he dropped the spare tennis ball from his pocket and limped to the net, where he embraced and shook hands with Medvedev who secured victory in sad circumstances.
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The pair had a lengthy chat at the net as popular Dimitrov appeared to explain the injury before heading off court.
The commentator said: “Oh no, no, no.
“It’s almost as if the whole of tennis, not just No1 Court, exhales a sigh of disappointment because this promised so much.”
Incredibly, Medvedev has never lost on No1 Court – and even joked he wanted to play last year’s semi-final against Carlos Alcaraz on Wimbledon’s second show court, rather than Centre.
Dimitrov’s withdrawal put Medvedev into the quarter-finals, where he will face world No1 and top seed Jannik Sinner in a blockbuster tie guaranteed to be on Centre Court.
In a cruel twist of fate, Dimitrov was the second player to retire hurt on No1 Court on Sunday.
Devastated Madison Keys appeared to pull her groin while serving to win the match against French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini and pulled out in floods of tears.
Then later on Centre, Emma Raducanu took a nasty fall early in the deciding third set in her defeat to qualifier Lulu Sun.
The former US Open champion – the last Brit standing in the men’s or women’s singles – got treatment on her ankle, knee and back.
She was able to carry on to the end but was outplayed by the New Zealander.
