After beating Jakub Menšík in the second round, Grigor Dimitrov made it clear he had no intention of reliving last year’s chaos. When play was halted on Court 1 on Thursday, the 35-year-old confronted officials and pointed to his SW19 clash with Jannik Sinner last year, when a sudden interruption cost him the match. Yet in yesterday’s contest against Matteo Berrettini, the former world No. 3 again raised the same complaint with Wimbledon, only for the officials to ignore it.

“I’m struggling to really understand… I don’t understand why can’t we start closing it during the game. Why isn’t it up to the players?” Dimitrov asked the tournament supervisor yesterday. And even in his post-match speech, the former SW19 semi-finalist brought it up with a laugh.

“You know, me and that roof have a history all of a sudden. The past three matches it’s been the same thing,” he said.

And Grigor’s frustration did not come out of nowhere. The Bulgarian ace had played his opening-round match on Court 18, but his next two matches were both placed late in the day on Court 1 and Centre Court. Because of that scheduling, the roofs of both ‌courts were always expected to come into play as the light faded, unless the matches ended unusually quickly.

What the former world No. 3 has taken issue with is the timing of the decision. More specifically, the former ATP Finals winner appears frustrated by how long officials waited before starting the roof-closing process.

That concern seems tied closely to what happened to him in the 2025 edition. In his SW19 match against the Italian top seed, play was stopped for 15 minutes after the secobrokent as the roof closed. Dimitrov felt that this interruption completely broke his momentum.

The same pattern appeared again this year when the roof was closed after the third set in both his matches against Mensik and Berrettini. Even during his second-round clash, Dimitrov questioned the decision while play was halted on Court 1.

“We knew that we’re not going to finish the match. Just a question, why didn’t we start closing the roof during the set?” he told the chair umpire.

That memory from last year still hangs over him, especially because the match against Sinner ended so painfully. Dimitrov later suffered a serious pectoral muscle injury and had to retire despite leading by two sets and looking in full control of the match. 

Yet even as he raised the same complaint again yesterday, with another big match ahead, he seemed to have finally conquered that fear on court once more.

Grigor Dimitrov shares thoughts after reaching the fourth round

Returning to Centre Court for the first time since suffering a heartbreaking pectoral injury last year, Dimitrov produced a gutsy performance against another Italian. The Bulgarian ace battled past 30-year-old Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3 to reach the fourth round.

It was a big response from the Bulgarian, especially on the same court where his 2025 SW19 ended painfully. “After last year, the way I exited, I would have never known what would have happened,” Dimitrov said in his post-match interview.

“But guess what? I am back here, and I am able to rewrite everything… I am just trying. It is not [only] about winning or losing, it is about overcoming every obstacle that I have in front of me,” he later added.

Yesterday, Grigor came out sharp and aggressive. He served well, struck the ball cleanly to build a two-set lead. However, the 2021 SW19 finalist refused to go away. The former world No. 6 fought back hard and forced the match into a deciding last set.

Yet Dimitrov stayed composed when it mattered most. He broke Berrettini once in the last set and closed out the win after 3 hours and 32 minutes.

Dimitrov will next face fellow wild card Arthur Fery for the first time in their careers. With British hopes on Fery, do you think the Bulgarian can ease past him?