Oddly enough, there were four retirements from the Grand Slam tournament lead

As we all know, on the tennis court, retirement is not surprising. However, generally speaking, retirements basically happen when you are behind. However, there is such a player who retired when the score was leading, and such a withdrawal also occurred in the main draw of the Grand Slam. So, who exactly is this player? How many times have such withdrawals occurred? Today, let the humble article take you to see it.

That player is Bulgarian Dimitrov. As a teenager, he won Wimbledon and the US Open junior tournaments, and also reached the junior world No. 1 position. After entering the professional tennis world, Dimitrov has reached the semifinals at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. Not only that, but he has also won the Masters championship, the year-end finals championship, and the world's highest ranking has reached No. 3.

Despite losing his former appearance as he gets older, Dimitrov reached two tour finals last season. All these data show that he is still a player whose strength should not be underestimated.

At Wimbledon in July 2024, Dimitrov reached the round of 16 after defeating Serbia's Lajovic, China's Shang Juncheng, and French veteran Monfils. In the fourth round, he faced Russia's Dmitry Medvedev, a former world No. 1 and Grand Slam champion. In the first set, Dimitrov led all the way and even won a set point, but due to a left knee injury, Dimitrov reluctantly withdrew from the match. However, no one could have imagined that this would be just the beginning of a series of retirements in the main draw of a Grand Slam.

At the end of August, Dimitrov sang all the way, defeating France's Jacquet, Australia's Rinki Hijikata, Netherlands' Grikosp, and Russia's Rublev to reach the quarterfinals. It should be noted that this is the first time in three years that he has reached the quarterfinals of the US Open. In the quarter-finals, he faced Tiafoe of the United States, who had reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam. In this matchup, Dimitrov battled his opponent to the fourth set. In the first three sets, he won two sets. In the fourth set, just as he was about to get the match point, Dimitrov withdrew from the match again due to a leg injury. Tiafoe, on the other hand, was lucky to advance when he was about to lose.

At the Australian Open in January 2025, facing Italy's Passaro, Dimitrov won the match with difficulty when he was forced to seven in the first set by his opponent. In the second set, with the score leading, Dimitrov had to withdraw from the match due to a groin injury. So far, he has retired with a lead in the main draw of three Grand Slams, and he is only one French Open away from a full retirement on New Year's Eve.

In the first round of the French Open this week, in a duel with American Quinn this week, Dimitrov took the lead in two sets and was one step away from victory. However, at this time, Quinn launched a counterattack and he won the third set. Still, Quinn was behind on the set.

At this time, the unthinkable happened, and Dimitrov had to announce his withdrawal from the competition due to an injury to his left leg. In this way, he completed the New Year's Eve full retirement. Still, being able to stand on the stage of a Grand Slam in his thirties is in itself worthy of respect. Hopefully, in the future, Dimitrov can perform well in the Grand Slam tournaments. That's it for today, and it will continue tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home Author: Yixin Jushi)