Grigor Dimitrov has revealed that he was 'frightened' to get back on court after suffering a horror pectoral injury on Wimbledon's Centre Court last year. The Bulgarian star looked on course to cause a seismic upset in the fourth round when he led world No. 1 Jannik Sinner by two sets to love on the second Monday of the tournament. Then, Dimitrov went down in pain early in the third set. He left the court for treatment, but it was of no use, and he retired mid-match in tears, while Sinner went on to win the title.
Emotional Aftermath
The former world No. 3 has now revealed that he spent two hours crying in the locker room after that heartbreaking exit before heading to the hospital. But the emotional weight of the incident didn't hit him until months later. Now ranked down at No. 164 in the world after that injury sidelined him for months, Dimitrov is back at Wimbledon as a wildcard.
He said: 'Clearly, last year was a difficult moment out here, but it's in the past now. I know I'm here again. I get another chance, that's the best part. I'm beyond grateful to be able to get the wildcard. I'm very touched by the fact that Wimbledon was considering it even at first. I was very happy that I got the news, and it's an excitement every year for me.'
Mental Struggles and Support
Dimitrov received around '500 messages' after getting injured mid-match here last summer, but the first person to reach out was Thanasi Kokkinakis, who suffered a pectoral injury of his own and had a radical procedure which involved inserting a dead man's Achilles tendon into his arm to attach his pec to his shoulder. 'He knew right away what happened. Like, he knew right away, and then fast forward, when we talked about it, he also told me the mistakes that he made,' the 35-year-old explained.
'I was frightened of the thought of having to come back on the court again and starting to hit. I'm not gonna lie, my first hits, even practises 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. 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, like, I didn't give myself the chance to process what happened. And it hit me later, months later, unfortunately.'
Flashbacks and Doubts
When it did ultimately sink in for Dimitrov, he started to suffer 'flashbacks' on the court. The world No. 164 continued: 'You have weird thoughts. You start questioning, you start doubting. I think, naturally, I'm very positive and by default, very optimistic overall and I think I didn't allow it at all 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, 'Okay good. Now the rehab starts'. I had not even time to be like, 'Oh my god, this is what happened'.'
'And then I think little by little, when I was going through the rehab and trying to play again, I was like, 'Will I be able to come back like 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 was not, I think, healthy enough. It kind of lingered for a while and I think it truly bothered me. And I was not afraid to ask for help. I had to find a different way to manage it.'
Return to Form
Dimitrov struggled to find momentum when he first returned from the pec injury. But the nine-time title winner is finding his groove again and recently reached back-to-back quarter-finals at the Dublin Challenger and the ATP 250 event in Mallorca. 'I can definitely see when I'm playing against certain players that I am lacking a little bit of momentum here and there, but they're afraid. I know quite a few people are afraid, so I can use that against them and yeah, the most important thing is to truly believe in yourself right now,' he added.
Watching Sinner Win
One thing that did haunt him, however, was seeing Sinner go on to lift the trophy at Wimbledon last year, after getting a lifeline into the quarter-finals when Dimitrov had to retire mid-match. 'What do you think?' he said with a wry smile when asked how he felt seeing the Italian crowned champion. 'In tennis, you just have one opportunity. I mean, clearly he's going to have a lot more, but I'm just saying, that was, I guess, that was his moment. There's nothing really to say. I was sad, there's no other way for me to say. I was sad for sure, because... I would never know. But that's what I'm saying, this year is a is another chance.'
'I think being able to compete at the Championships has always been very special to me. I've had really good results, bad results. Overall, I'm just trying to focus on everything else that had happened, because if I stay in that that moment from the past, I don't think I'm doing myself a good service and I need to move forward. I knew that it could have been let's say, one of my best chances. I knew that. But in the end, this is what happened. So I kind of made peace with it.'
He still hasn't discussed the ill-timed retirement with Sinner, though. 'No, not really. I think obviously his whole team checked on me for the next weeks, which was very nice. I appreciate it, but... Our sport moves too quick, and you get forgotten too quickly. But that's okay. It's all good. I'm ready to compete again, so let's see,' he said.
