Sinner gets out of jail to reach last eight as Dimitrov retires at Wimbledon

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LONDON - Top seed Jannik Sinner struggled with an elbow problem and was given an almighty scare before advancing to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon after a cruel twist of fate for his 19th-seeded opponent Grigor Dimitrov who retired injured while two sets up.

Novak Djokovic continued his quest for Grand Slam glory at the All England Club with a battling victory over Alex de Minaur while five-times major champion Iga Swiatek found her grasscourt wings to fly past Clara Tauson.

The drama was reserved for the evening clash on Centre Court as Dimitrov, who had pulled out injured in his last four majors, played exquisite tennis to go up 6-3 7-5 2-2 but then crashed to the ground after a big ace to hold serve.

Sinner, who had been hampered for much of the contest by a right elbow issue after slipping and falling to the turf early on, was left feeling sorry for his opponent who threw in the towel after a short assessment by a doctor.

I dont know what to say because hes an incredible player. I think we all saw this today, said Sinner, who was by a tearful Dimitrovs side while the Bulgarian was attended to.

Hes been so unlucky in the past couple of years. Hes an incredible player, a good friend of mine also, and we understand each other very well off the court too.

Seeing him in this position... if there would be a chance that he could play in the next round, he would deserve it. Now I hope he has a speedy recovery. Very, very unlucky from his side.

I dont take this as