World No. 1 Jannik Sinner advanced to the Wimbledon quarter-finals in dramatic and unexpected fashion on Monday after Grigor Dimitrov was forced to retire despite leading by two sets.

The match on Centre Court took an emotional turn when Dimitrov, who was ahead 6-3, 7-5, 2-2, collapsed in pain after delivering an ace. The Bulgarian clutched his pectoral muscle and cried out as Sinner rushed over to check on him. After receiving on-court treatment and briefly leaving, Dimitrov returned only to inform Sinner that he could not continue. The Italian embraced him in a heartfelt hug as the 34-year-old left the court in tears.

Sinner himself had been dealing with a right elbow issue and looked on the verge of a potential exit before Dimitrov’s unfortunate injury.

“Honestly, I don’t know what to say,” Sinner said afterward. “He’s an incredible player—we all saw that today. He’s been so unlucky in recent years. Grigor is also a good friend off the court, and seeing him like this is hard. If there was any way he could play the next round, he would deserve it. I just hope he recovers quickly.”

This marks the second consecutive year Dimitrov has been forced to retire from Wimbledon in the fourth round, having also withdrawn against Daniil Medvedev in 2023.

With the victory, Sinner moves into the last eight, where he will face American 10th seed Ben Shelton—provided he himself can manage his ongoing elbow discomfort.

Sinner is chasing his first Wimbledon final appearance, having reached the semi-finals last year. The 22-year-old has contested the last three Grand Slam finals, winning the US Open and Australian Open titles, and narrowly losing a five-set thriller to Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open final last month.