The pulsating US Open quarterfinal between Grigor Dimitrov and Frances Tiafoe ended in somewhat of an anti-climax. A match which had its moments ended abruptly in the fourth set, with Dimitrov having to withdraw due to injury. This meant Tiafoe got a walkover and set up an all-American semi-final but for the Bulgarian Dimitrov, it brought back painful memories of Wimbledon earlier this year when he had to face a similar fate.

Tiafoe was in the ascendancy when Dimitrov’s left leg started giving him trouble in the third set. Dimitrov had lost the first set by 3-6 but came back strong to win the second set 6-7(5-7), however, the American pulled things back with a win in the third set and was leading 4-1 in the fourth when Dimitrov decided he couldn’t carry on anymore.

As per several reports, Grigor Dimitrov was hurt in the later stages of the third set. His movement slowed down and he called for his physio at the end of the set and went off court to receive treatment. He returned later, but his struggles by this point were apparent as he was unable to cope with Tiafoe’s power game, going down 4-1. At this point, the ninth seed decided enough was enough and had to retire from the match after battling for three hours and four minutes.

Though the nature of the injury remains unspecified at this moment, Dimitrov opened up on what led him to announce his withdrawal from the engaging contest.

Speaking to the reporters after the match, he said, “I believe it’s a combination of everything. It’s clear that my rehabilitation process is slower than before; I felt a couple of things in the previous match. There’s no sense in talking about it; that’s the way the game is, and I need to keep my head up. I just need to reassess some things I need to change to improve a bit and also physically.”

It looks like the issues stemmed from time on the court, leading to cramps and eventual difficulty in competing. It is worth noting that he defeated Andrey Rublev in the fourth round, a match that lasted three hours and 39 minutes.

This marks the second Grand Slam in a row where he had to retire midway through a contest. At Wimbledon earlier this year, the Bulgarian slipped at 2-3 in the first set against Daniil Medvedev. He received medical attention for a knee issue and returned to the court.

However, he could only go on for 3 more games, before forcefully retiring in his last 16 clash. Incidentally, with his US Open withdrawal, Dimitrov has had to retire from 7 out of 56 majors played. This unfortunate statistic highlights a problematic and common occurrence for the tennis star. Alarmingly, he has suffered five out of these seven withdrawals in the last three years.

This is also the second time he has had to retire at the US Open, having retired in his round 2 match against Alexei Popyrin 2021 due to a foot injury.

Dimitrov’s unfortunate Grand Slam retirements

2009 Wimbledon 1R vs Igor Kunitsyn – 6-3, 0-6, 0-3 r.
2012 Wimbledon 2R vs Marcos Baghdatis – 5-7, 1-4 r.
2021 French Open 1R vs Marcos Giron – 6-2, 6-4, 5-7, 0-3 r.
2021 US Open 2R vs Alexei Popyrin – 6-7(4), 6-7(4), 0-4 r.
2022 Wimbledon 1R vs Steve Johnson – 6-4, 2-5 r.
2024 Wimbledon 4R vs Daniil Medvedev – 3-5 r.
2024 US Open QF vs Frances Tiafoe – 3-6, 7-6(5), 3-6, 1-4 r.

Dimitrov also pointed out how the frequent injuries have hampered him, but gave credit to Tiafoe for pushing him hard in the match. “Given the circumstances from Montreal until now, I wasn’t sure I could have performed as well as I wanted to. So, I’ll settle for these quarterfinals in any case. I don’t want to discredit the match Frances played; he also pushed me to try to work more,” he said.

Dimitrov suffered a third-round exit in Montreal and then went out in his first match in Cincinnati. He did show improvements in the US Open to reach the quarterfinals, but his journey has now been cut short.

While for Dimitrov this was a sad ending to a tournament, where did well, for Tiafoe this means he continues to be on the path to a maiden Grand Slam title. For the Maryland native, this means a second US Open semifinal, although he wished he didn’t get a walkover.

Frances Tiafoe didn’t want to go through on a walkover from Grigor Dimitrov

Speaking on the walkover, Tiafoe said, “Obviously it’s not how I want to get through. But I’m happy to be through. Another semifinal here. Incredible. It was a really high-level match.”

Despite Dimitrov’s struggles, Tiafoe was given a hard match by the 33-year-old, who did look out of sorts at times. Tiafoe’s win also sets up a semi-final with compatriot Taylor Fritz, which means for the first time since 2009, an American man will compete in a Grand Slam final. It also means that the US Open will have an American male tennis player in the final for the first time in 18 years.

As for Grigor Dimitrov, he wants to learn from these problems and not brush things off. “When you’ve done certain things a certain way throughout your career, I think a lot of moments, like, outside of tennis, really humble you in a very different way. he said.

He then added, “So will I hurt? Yeah for sure and it should. But I don’t want to just put it aside. I want to also reassess myself and everything that I’ve been going through, throughout these past three, four weeks and see the plus and the minuses. What can I improve, what I could have done better, what I need to do.”

Next up for the Bulgarian is an exhibition match with Novak Djokovic in his country. His run at the US Open means he is in contention for the season-ending tournament Nitto ATP Finals in November. Dimitrov will hope to be fully fit before the event as he seeks to end the year in a better fashion.