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Jannik Sinner Plans for MRI Scan After Escaping Huge Wimbledon Upset Against Grigor Dimitrov

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Gouri Das | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 8:50 AM ET

Jannik Sinner suffered a huge blow in the first set in his fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov, on Centre Court in the ongoing Wimbledon. In the very first game itself, he slipped and ended up injuring his elbow and took a medical timeout.

The severity of the injury is not known yet. At the press conference later, Sinner said he planned to get an MRI scan.

It happened very early in the match. First game. Quite unfortunate fall. Checked the videos a bit. It didn’t seem like a tough one, but I still felt it quite a lot, especially on the serve and forehand. I could feel it. Let’s see. Tomorrow we are gonna check to see how it is.

Sinner doesn’t have a physiotherapist at the moment in his team because a few days before Wimbledon, he parted ways with Ulises Badio as well as fitness trainer Marco Panichi. He would be working with ATP Tour’s physio.

In the match, Dimitrov became the first player in the tournament to take a set off Sinner. The Bulgarian ace secured wins in the first two sets and when the score was tied at 2-2 in the third, Dimitrov fell on the ground, clutching his right chest right after he hit an ace.

The 34-year-old damaged his right pectoral muscle and handed a walkover to the first seed. This is the fifth consecutive time Dimitrov retired mid-match in a Grand Slam tournament due to injury issues.

Before this match, Sinner had a 4-1 lead in the head-to-head meetings with the former World No.3. Dimitrov’s best performance at Wimbledon came in 2014 when he reached the semifinal.

Jannik Sinner to play Ben Shelton next

Jannik Sinner will hope more for nothing but a speedy recovery, for he will be up against a tough opponent in the quarterfinal. It’s 10th seed Ben Shelton who overcame Lorenzo Sonego in the previous round to progress to the last eight of Wimbledon for the first time.

I’ll have to work a lot on my return game for his big serve, of course. Obviously, he’s a player who has improved a lot from the baseline. I saw the great match he played against Carlos (Alcaraz) in Paris. He also knows how to slide on all surfaces; we faced each other here last year, and it was a really tough match, so we’ll see what happens this time, but I’m clear that he will pose significant challenges for me.
Jannik Sinner said at the press conference

Shelton has met Sinner six times, winning just one match. That lone win he registered in their first encounter at the 2023 Shanghai Masters. They will be meeting for the second time this year following their clash in this year’s Australian Open semifinal, which Sinner won before outclassing Alexander Zverev in the final to defend his title.

Australian Open is the only title Sinner has won this year. After serving his three-month doping ban, he played two back-to-back finals- at the Italian Open and at the French Open, losing both to Alcaraz.

He arrived in London after his second-round defeat to eventual winner Alexander Bublik at the Halle Open, which he played to defend his title as well as lift his second grass-court title. Shelton has never lifted a title on the surface.

He has not yet won a trophy since lifting the 2024 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships. This year, he made it to the final of the Munich Open but couldn’t beat Zverev.

While Sinner is chasing his fourth Grand Slam title, Shelton has never reached a final in this event category. Twice he has played in Major semifinals: in the 2023 US Open (lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic) and in the 2025 Australian Open.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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