Grigor Dimitrov's coach has admitted to being "gutted" after the 34-year-old was forced to retire against Jannik Sinner. The 19th seed was on the brink of a major upset against world No.1 Jannik Sinner when disaster struck in the third set.

Leading 6-3 7-5 2-2, the Bulgarian served an ace before falling to the grass and clutching his arm. After a medical timeout, a tearful Dimitrov returned to the court and confirmed he had to retire hurt. He was afforded generous applause by the Centre Court crowd as he walked off, accompanied by Sinner, with coach Jamie Delgado seen applauding in the stands.

Delgado has now taken to Instagram to underline his disappointment. Along with a photo of himself looking downbeat at last night's match, he simply wrote "gutted..." before the post disappeared from his story.

The 48-year-old has been working with Dimitrov since December 2022, having previously worked with Andy Murray. He oversaw a resurgence from the star last year, as he reached the quarter-final stage at both the French Open and US Open.

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However, Monday night was the third time this season he's had to endure the world No.19 retiring hurt in a Grand Slam match. At the Australian Open in January, Dimitrov retired from his opening match due to a groin injury.

Last month at Roland Garros, he struggled with a thigh issue in his first-round match and was again forced to limp off. The injury affected his preparation for Wimbledon, and he was forced to withdraw before his first-round match at Queen's against Gael Monfils after failing to recover in time.

Dimitrov opted to skip his post-match press conference last night to undergo further medical assessment. After helping his rival to the backstage area, Sinner returned to the court to speak and offered words of consolation.

"I don't take this as a win at all, this is just an unfortunate moment for all of us to witness." he said. "He has struggled in the last Grand Slams with injuries a lot, so seeing him again with this injury is very tough."

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