Wimbledon 2025: Sinner gets reprieve as Dimitrov retires injured; Djokovic, Swiatek and Andreeva through – as it happened | Wimbledon 2025
Key events
On that note, I’m afraid it’s time for us to go. Thanks for your company through another memorable day – we’ll be back tomorrow for yet more joy and love. But until then, peace out.
I guess Dimitrov will have to tell himself that if he played like that, against that opponent, on that stage, at 34, he can do it at 35. His serve and forehand aren’t going anywhere, and he’s got the tools to ride this kind of setback because he’s done similarly before. But tonight, he’ll feel empty – us too.
One of the many things we love about sport is that it makes us feel, and we’re all going through it now. The work these people put in to hit physical, mental and technical peaks; the love and agony they expend for our entertainment, sacrificing their youth and their family life in search of a moment of release. Dimitrov emptied his soul on that court – every single piece of effort expended over the years was evident in the brilliance of that performance … was building to that performance. I ache for him.
There’s an eerie silence as Sinner does his interview. “I don’t know what to say,” he says, praising an “incredible player” and good friend “who’s been so unlucky in the past.”
He hopes Dimitrov has a speedy recovery, he doesn’t take it as a win at all, and this is a very unfortunate moment to witness. In the last slams, he knows his mate has struggled with injury and seeing it is very tough – we saw in his reaction how much he cares about the sport and few people work as hard.
Finally, he encourages the crowed to applaud Griggzy and his team, then slinks off to sign autographs. He’s dodged one here, and he knows it.
Jannik Sinner (1) beats Grigor Dimitrov (19) 3-6 5-7 2-2
Oh man. Usually it’s my privilege to being you the joy and ephemera of it all, but this is just heartbreaking. Dimitrov was playing the match of his life, at a time of his life when he might’ve felt such thing was beyond him, only for his body to fail him just as things were intensifying. He may never again get such a good look at the final stages of a slam, and that is unbearably brutal and cruel. Godspeed, old mate.
We just had the strange scene of Sinner crouching down while Dimitrov was getting medical advice – I’m not sure i’ve ever seen that before.
Dimitrov goes off for treatment
Gosh, this really would be a terrible end to things. Oor Griggzy has the look of a man assimilating a miserable new circumstance into his psyche and though I expect him to at least try to keep going and I’m naturally an optimist, I’m fearing the worst.
“Given Dimitrov is in the twilight of his career, given his nationality and given the location of the tournament, begins Ben Mcfarland, “I’m hoping, assuming he wins, tomorrow’s headline writers do something clever with Great Uncle Bulgaria, Wimbledon and, you know, that kind of thing.”
I too would appreciate that but, as I type, Dimitrov thunders down an ace that earns him a hold to 15, he goes down immediately, holding his right pec, and gosh, could this be the end? Sinner immediately comes around the net to check on him, but he’s in a lot of pain. Let’s hope he recovers, but I’m afraid the signs are not good, his laughter resigned at the cruel absurdity of it all.
For the first time in the match, it feels like Sinner’s dictating, but if he’s smart, Dimitrov won’t mind. It was likely if not inevitable that he’d not be able to win without suffering so, in line with therapeutic thinking, his best course of action is to acknowledge an event he could have foreseen, experience it in that context, and come out firing once it’s passed. The world no 1 holds for 2-1 in the third.
Now then! From 40-0, Sinner battles back to deuce and there’s a different feel to this now. But Dimitrov doesn’t care, powering through to hold, Sinner slipping in the process and showing he’s still feeling discomfort in his elbow. It’s 1-1 in the third.
Having fought back from 30-0 to 30-all. Dimitrov nets a backhand slice, and he’ll be rueing that; he’ll know he deserved it oo, hitting a rally-ball instead of something more active. He soon nets again, and I wonder if the break plus closed roof have changed the look of things for Sinner, who trails 0-2 but leads 1-0.
“Have always loved watching Dimitrov play,” begins Gregory Phillips. “Would love see him maintain his level — and, crucially, his self-belief — long enough to produce his best in a slam final. If he can wrap this up, maybe there’s still time…”
Same same. He wasn’t ready mentally when he was there physically and technically, but he’s now the best he’s ever been, and serving like this he’s a problem for anyone.
Righto, we’re good to go again, Sinner to serve, two sets down. These are not words we read or type often.
So why is Sinner losing? We might explain it simply by virtue of his injury, in tandem with a canny, skilful opponent serving like a dream and hitting huge forehands. But has he truly recovered from his French Open final catastrophe? Before it, he was almost impregnable, and though he’s been good enough here, this is his first serious test, and perhaps his confidence isn’t quite where it was.
The roof is being closed, so we’ll take a 10-minute break. Thinking for Sinner to do, while Dimitrov just needs to keep doing what he’s doing.
Grigor Dimitrov wins the second set 7-5 to lead Jannik Sinner by 2-0
Dimitrov’s first serves are only at 22% this set, but he annihilates an ace for advantage … only to float a slice long. No matter! He makes advantage again, Sinner swats a backhand wide, and the world no 1 trails by two sets!
At 30-15, a net cord nobbles Dimitrov, Sinner’s ball clambering over, just, and the pressure ramps up … all the more so when he misses a first serve. You get the sense that this could be the match here, and when a deep second serve elicits a return that falls long, Oor Griggzy has set point … only to net a backhand. To deuce we go, and this is compelling stuff.
While that’s going on, Dimitrov makes 0-40, and though Sinner saves one break point, a tremendous backhand return, on the stretch, goes deep, Sinner can’t adjust, and at 6-3 6-5 he’ll now serve for set two a second time! This is brilliant from the Bulgarian.
Siwatek says she started poorly with double faults, but is happy with her performance – though she knows Tauson wasn’t well, so hopes she’ll be fine.
She’s feeling good and like she can just play her game then, asked if she wanted a particular chair, explains that it’s not a superstition, rather she was trying to liven herself up having waited a long time to play.
Otherwise, she knows Samsonova can play well on fast surfaces and trust what her coach says about her opponent while she focuses on herself. She then signs a few autographs while a child nags her for her hat; what a curious new feature of sport this is. Nausing someone you’ve never met for their clothes, goodness me.
Dimitrov makes 30-15 but when he nets, he’s under pressure; can Sinner, who returned the last ball well, make him play again? He can, and when a forehand goes long, he has break-back point, spanking a return, and though Griggzy does everything possible to stop in the rally, a booming forehand is too good, and might that be a turning point? Dimitrov leads 6-3 5-5…
Iga Swiatek (8) beats Claras Tauson (23) 6-4 6-1
Easy for Iga, who’s coming to a fearsome boil. Next for her: Liudmila Samsonova.
Oh and Sinner powers through a hold for 3-6 4-5, meaning Dimitrov must now serve for a two-set lead.
Tauson looks like she’s feeling fairly sorry for herself now, stepping gingerly on her left leg as she faces 4-6 1-4 0-30. There’s no sense whatsoever that a comeback is even on her mind, and when a backhand return down the line earns another break, Swiatek is a game away and will shortly serve for the match.
There’s not a physio alive who can cure sinner of Dimitrov’s serve, and an emphatic love hold underscores the point. He leads 6-3 4-2 and, like the rest of those left, will be appraising a significant opportunity – indeed more than most of the others, coming as he does from the passed-over generation, none of them able to win slams because Federer, Djokovic and Nadal were still snaffling them all.
Sinner holds then calls a medical timeout, his right arm causing him aggravation; he fell in the first game while we were mopping up interviews. So he’s given a painkiller while, on No 1, Swiatek makes 0-40. Tauson, though, saves the first two and is dominating the next rally … only for brilliant de-fence to be followed by a superb backhand pass and the no 8 seed now leads by a set and a break at 6-4 3-1.
Hold tight Clara Tauson. Looking seriously miserable, she holds in the kind of game that, had she been broken in it, you’d think heralded the beginning of the end. But she’s soon got to go again because Swiatek powers through a hold of her own to lead 6-4 2-1.
A pick-up error from Dimitrov gives Sinner a sniff at 15-30, and the Bulgarian then misses a first serve, not something we’ve seen him do often so far today, especially not on big points. Sinner, though, doesn’t make the most of the opportunity, tamely surrendering the point. And though a double brings us to deuce, he soon hooks a forehand miles from anywhere, subsequently pointing to his elbow and asking the umpire to call the trainer. Dimitrov leads 6-3 3-1.
All of a sudden Tauson looks very forlorn, barely moving as Swiatek spanks a forehand by her for 40-0, and she soon deposits an overhead to lead 6-4 1-0. I’ not certain we’re going to see the full match here; I’m not sure what’s up with Tauson, but whatever it is, it isn’t good – you only need to look at her body language.
Tauson summons the trainer and takes a medical timeout; Dimitrov endorses his break for 6-3 2-0, and Sinner’s in big trouble.
Iga Swiatek takes the first set against Clara Tauson 6-4
We wind up at 30-all while Dimitrov makes 0-30 on the Sinner serve. Swiatek then assaults a poor serve, after which Tauson goes long; at 30-40, she faces set point. But a big backhand cross earns her deuce just as Sinner sends down a double, and at 0-40 he directs a forehand into the tape! Sinner is broken at the start of set two and Griggzy leads 6-3 1-0! Then, back with our other match, Swiatek again makes advantage and this time Tauson, who wasn’t far off a double last time she faced set point, makes it happen. I hate to say it, but that was extremely predictable.
Now a big test for Tauson who, serving at 4-5, is seeking to stay in set one. It’s the kind of game that, if I’m honest, I expect her to lose.
Grigor Dimitrov takes the first set against Jannik Sinner 6-3
Brilliant from Dimitrov, who serves it out to love, and the world no 1 loses his first set of the championships. He’s in a proper match here.
Griggzy is so ready for this. He lands a first serve and finishes the point with an overhead for 15-0; another big delivery offers a simple clean-up for 30-0. An ace – at 141mph – follows, and he’s making this look very easy. It is not easy.
Dimitrov has been impressive so far, but here comes the first major test: at 5-3, he must now try and serve out the first set. In our other match, it’s 4-4.
I have, though, been wondering if Swiatek has what it takes to win here. Mentally, she’s absolutely nails, she’s also pretty nifty when the balls bounce low, and looks to be getting her confidence back after a ropey year. With so many big names gone, she’ll surely fancy herself as one of few remaining who knows how to win.
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