Sinner into Wimbledon quarters after injured Dimitrov retires

Jannik Sinner reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in bizarre fashion as Grigor Dimitrov was forced to retire despite holding a two-set lead against the world number one on Monday.

Sinner had been battling an injury to his right elbow and was trailing 3-6, 5-7, 2-2 on Centre Court when Dimitrov injured himself serving an ace.

The Bulgarian collapsed onto the court holding his pectoral muscle and shouted out in pain as Sinner rushed to his aid.

Dimitrov received medical treatment and walked off court before returning to tell Sinner he was pulling out, with the Italian wrapping him in a hug as the Bulgarian wiped away tears.

Dimitrov, 34, has been hampered by injuries for much of the latter stages of his career, also retiring from Wimbledon in the fourth round against Daniil Medvedev last year.

From the brink of a potential shock exit, Sinner will now face American 10th seed Ben Shelton in the last eight, assuming the three-time Grand Slam champion can recover from his own fitness issue.

Sinner has never reach the Wimbledon final, going as far as the semi-finals in 2023.

Polish eighth seed Iga Swiatek reached the quarter-finals for just the second time with a 6-4, 6-1 rout of Danish 23rd seed Clara Tauson on Monday.

Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam winner, has never made the Wimbledon final.

But the 24-year-old is in a strong position in the second week of the tournament after the exit of so many of the top seeds.

In the last eight, Swiatek will face Russian 19th seed Liudmila Samsonova, who beat Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 7-5, 7-5 to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final.

Swiatek has lost in the semi-finals of both the Australian and French Opens this year.

But world number one Aryna Sabalenka is the only one of the top six women's seeds still standing.

Although Swiatek has reached only one All England Club quarter-final, she made the Bad Homburg final on grass recently and also won the Wimbledon junior title.

Following her run at Bad Homburg, Swiatek admitted playing on grass had never been easy for her as she said "maybe there is hope for me" on the surface.

Despite her grass-court fears, the former world number one is three wins away from adding the Wimbledon trophy to her four French Open crowns and one US Open title.

Swiatek's cause was helped by Tauson's struggles on Court One as the Dane complained about the slippier court and called for a medical time-out between sets.