Grigor Dimitrov’s Wimbledon campaign ended in the round of 16 for the fourth year in a row, this time with a shocking upset.
In the battle of the wildcards, Dimitrov lost to British home hope Arthur Fery in a five-set thriller on Centre Court.
Fery, ranked 114th in the world, came back from two sets to one down against the Bulgarian, triumphing 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, to become the first wildcard to reach the Wimbledon men’s singles quarterfinals since Nick Kyrgios in 2014.
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Prior to this year’s Championships, the Briton was largely unknown in the tennis world, having never made it past the second round of a Grand Slam.
But Dimitrov said he was not surprised at Fery’s level on Monday at all.
Grigor Dimitrov speaks after losing to Arthur Fery at Wimbledon
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Dimitrov said: “I’ve seen him play. I know that he’s a fighter.
“He always plays till the end. I think he just went and grabbed the match when important moments came through. He went for it. That’s as simple as that for me, the way I see it, from outside.
“Again, I did a lot of unforced errors today – like a lot. But again, you still have to go ahead and win the match.
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“I think, of course, the crowd, the atmosphere, everything helped for him. I’m happy for him. This one will be a memorable one. The night goes for him.”
Dimitrov, a former world number three, was looking to go one step further at Wimbledon this year after the devastating end to his run at the All England Club in 2025, when he suffered a pectoral injury after going two sets up on eventual champion Jannik Sinner.
He was in fine form across the opening three rounds, beating Jakub Mensik and Matteo Berrettini, but could not get over the line against Fery.
Grigor Dimitrov admits what went wrong for him against Arthur Fery
“I did a lot of mistakes today,” admitted Dimitrov when asked what he struggled with most against Fery. “Just too many mistakes, honestly.”
“I think when I was ahead, I wasn’t able to solidify my lead. My focus was also not as good as I wanted to.
“Again, I could sit here and give you another, like, 15 other things that went wrong for me, but this is the situation.
“I’m going to keep the head up, yeah, keep moving forward. Hopefully, I can get some more matches, and the body recovers well. That’s that.
“I mean, he’s a great fighter. He fought, I think, throughout the whole match. He grabbed the match, for sure. So yeah.”
Fery will take on Flavio Cobolli next, whom he beat at the Australian Open in straight sets earlier this year.
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