The former world No. 3, Grigor Dimitrov, will be missing Roland Garros for the first time since 2010, losing in the first qualifying round. The 35-year-old Bulgarian faced a heartbreaking loss against Portugal’s Jaime Faria, defeating him 3-6, 7-5, 7-6. In the last two sets, Dimitrov had the opportunity to finish the match on his serve, but failed to hold his serve on both occasions.

Faria, the 10th seed in qualifying, put it plainly: “I was a break down in the second set and he was serving for the match; he was serving for the match in the third set. I just found some force to turn it around and just stay in the match.”

When it was over, Dimitrov waved to the crowd on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, bags in hand, walked away. It is difficult to process the context behind the image. A year ago, Dimitrov was in the top 10 and had Jannik Sinner two sets down at Wimbledon. A pectoral muscle injury ended that match mid-way through the third set, and it ended far more than just that afternoon. He had to withdraw from the US Open after sustaining the injury at SW19. This resulted in ending his run of 58 straight Grand Slam appearances, which started back in the 2011 Australian Open. 

The injury had a severe impact on his ranking and career. The Bulgarian has started the year at No. 44 in the world rankings, but early exits at the Sunshine Double and Monte-Carlo pushed his ranking outside the top 100 for the first time in 14 years. Currently positioned at No. 170, the 35-year-old veteran was denied a wildcard and had to go through the qualification round. Additionally, Dimitrov has only had two wins the whole year and is on a seven-match losing streak.

The loss against the Portuguese was another chapter in the book that has been going on for a while now. The manner of it, serving for the match twice and being broken both times, only made it worse. The Wimbledon injury came after four more consecutive Grand Slam withdrawals, including groin, leg, abductor, and pectoral – making Dimitrov just as much an opponent as anyone on the other side. 

He was given a send-off from the Roland Garros crowd befitting the stature of the player. For a man who reached the quarter-finals here as recently as 2024, waving goodbye from Suzanne-Lenglen, rather than walking out for a main draw match, is the image that captures exactly where one of the most gifted players of his generation finds himself right now.

“I’m Portuguese, so I was taught to never quit’ Faria after his win

The man who ended Grigor Dimitrov’s French Open streak is no stranger to big courts or big moments. The 22-year-old Faria made his Grand Slam debut at the 2025 Australian Open, ranked No. 124. He won his first-round match and then faced 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic in the second. He didn’t just face him; the Portuguese even managed to take a set off the Serbian, pushing the match into four sets in front of a packed crowd at Rod Laver Arena. Faria credited that experience with helping him in Tuesday’s match. 

“I’ve played in Rod Laver against Novak, I managed to also get a set, so I’ve played in an atmosphere like this. If I hadn’t played before on a big stage like that, maybe I would lose today,” he said.

He had consistently struggled in 2026 up to Paris, finishing in the Challenger finals in Sao Paulo, advancing to the quarterfinals in Oeiras, and losing in the first round of Madrid. None of that mattered on Tuesday. With the whole crowd in support of Dimitrov on one of the most iconic courts, Faria kept his composure and came out a winner. “I felt the pressure was on his side, and I was really relaxed playing and just trying to enjoy, finding ways to win it. I’m seeded. It’s never easy to take Grigor Dimitrov in the first round of a qualifying draw, but I mean, I felt the pressure was on his side,” Faria stated. 

The fight lasted two hours and 46 minutes, and the highlights are evident in the statistics. It was a match defined by the absence of Dimitrov’s conversion. The match turned when both players missed serves at 5-4 in the second set, and again at 5-4 in the third set. This was reflected in Dimitrov’s first-serve percentage, which dropped below 50%. Additionally, his 42 unforced errors, compared with Faria’s 24, showed that his nerves were going in opposite directions in pressure situations. 

The Portuguese 22-year-old absorbed both escapes and kept coming. “I just found some force to turn it around and just stay in the match,” he said. What kept him upright through those moments, he insisted, was not tactics. “I’m Portuguese, so I was taught to never quit since the beginning. I think it was just perseverance, and I just kept fighting. It was a crazy ambience for me, just so special,” he added. 

For a player still establishing himself on the ATP Tour, the significance of the occasion was not lost on him. “It’s unreal. Of course, you grow up watching all of these legends, these amazing players. Dimitrov used to play a big part of his career on this court. So just to face him with the packed stadium is everything I’ve worked for, and to manage to win, it’s even more special,” Faria said. 

His final word on Dimitrov was generous: “Grigor is such a legend of this game. I hope we see him playing many more matches. But I’ve worked all my life and I just want to soak it all in.”

The 10th seed needs to win two more matches to secure a spot in the main draw. The next match is scheduled with America’s Colton Smith on 20th May at court 13, not before 12:20 PM local time.