Dimitrov was playing fantastic tennis, running Sinner around the court and delivering booming serves. Dimitrov won the first set 6-3 and survived a hard-charging comeback attempt from the Italian in the second to take the set 7-5 and put the world No. 1 in a desperate position.

Jannik Sinner could not believe his luck. He was staring into the Wimbledon abyss, only to be spared by the tennis Gods.

No. 1 Jannik Sinner advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals despite hurting his right elbow in a fall and dropping the first two sets Monday night, after his opponent, Grigor Dimitrov, had to retire with an injured pectoral muscle.