Dimitrov laments back injury with 'It's sport'

Grigor Dimitrov appeared to be on his way to the semifinals until a back injury sustained a day earlier derailed his plans.

Grigor Dimitrov appeared to be on cruise control following a strong opening set against Aslan Karatsev which the Bulgarian won with 6-2. But his play quickly deteriorated going forward resulting in three lost sets and a crashing out of the tournament. In the midst of all of that Dimitrov required a medical timeout and after his match, he finally explained what really happened:

“There’s no point in hiding anything. It started yesterday on a regular movement Then it happened early in the match, it kept progressing and was unstoppable. It was his day. Now let’s move on. That’s sport.”

The severity of the injury was such that Dimitrov struggled to put on his socks before the match. In the end, he decided to give it a try because it was a Grand Slam saying:

“I couldn’t put on my socks before the match. So I knew it would be tough. I gave it a try because of Grand Slam, adrenaline, I was in a very good shape before. [I’ve] rarely been so well in a Slam.”

The disappointment was visible for Dimitrov who in his own words has not felt so well at a slam in a long time. The tennis he displayed backed that up and it was some of his best tennis in years. He wrapped up by giving props to Karatsev and calling the sequence of events simply "sport":

“Once again, it’s sport. Respect to the guy (Karatsev), always struggling, doing what he was to do.”

You can check out the full press conference below: