Grigor Dimitrov fends off Matteo Berrettini’s fight back from two sets down to win Centre Court thriller and reach the round of 16 at Wimbledon 2026

Grigor Dimitrov banished his Centre Court demons with a thrilling five-set victory over former finalist Matteo Berrettini.

The Bulgarian wildcard posted a 6-3 6-4 3-6 5-7 6-3 success in three hours and 32 minutes to set up a round of 16 showdown with Great Britain’s Arthur Fery.

The world number 146 was appearing on the court for the first time since suffering a horror injury while leading eventual Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner by two sets 12 months ago.

The 35-year-old is still working his way back after an extended spell out with the pectoral damage sustained in that fourth-round clash, but this was another positive sign that he is on the right track.

Dimitrov flew out of the traps and broke for a 3-1 lead as Berrettini struggled for consistency on his prized-forehand.

The Bulgarian served out a 33-minute opener with the minimum of fuss and broke again in Game 9 of the second stanza before easing into a two-set lead.

Dimitrov, a semi-finalist here in 2014, faltered in the third as a woeful smash into the net helped Berrettini to break for a 4-2 lead and go on to reduce the arrears.

The fourth set commenced following the closure of the Centre Court roof and it was the Italian who made good use of his low slice and prowess at the net to engineer an instant break.

Dimitrov came roaring back with sublime use of the low slice to level at 3-3, but Berrettini broke again with the aid of a stonking forehand pass on the run before moving beyond the 20-mark for aces as he forced a decider.

It felt like the momentum was with the Italian, but Dimitrov produced a stunning backhand winner down the line to break for a 3-1 lead, and he never looked back, as he served out on his second match point to reach the fourth round for the fourth year in a row.

Matteo throws his hands into the air in despair as he misfires off the forehand on the opening point with Dimitrov looking a touch off balance beyond his baseline.

The Italian does unload off his major weapon at 30-0, but a clutch serve earns two match points.

Grigor slices tamely into the net on the first but gets it done on the second when the Italian fizzes off the island.

Dimitrov can’t find the island and Berrettini slams down an ace to finihs off a clean hold in a hurry.

It's all down to the next game now as Grigor looks to serve for a spot in R4.

One to go!

Dimitrov shows no signs of nerves as he nears the finish line, romping through a game to love to leave Berrettini’s hopes hanging by a bit of a thread.

A 22nd ace of the day seals a game to 15 for Matteo as he looks to stay in the fight here.

Dimitrov gets a slither of fortune with a net cord but it may not have made much difference as he consolidates to love.

Berrettini worked so hard to force this deciding set but that scoreboard will make for glum reading right now, despite it being just the one break.

Berrettini overcooks a forehand long and is then flummoxed by Dimi’s excellent chipped backhand to cough up the first break points of the decider.

Matteo staves off one but is unlocked by a sublime backhand pass down the line on the second, which is a quite sensational way for Grigor to take control!

Grigor keeps his nose in front with a quick-fire hold to 15.

There's very much a sense of the calm before the storm in these fledgling moments of the decider.

Dimitrov fluffs his line with a miss on a make-able forehand at 0-15 and that’s all she wrote as Matteo races through the next three points to quickly return to the board.

Dimitrov knocks down his 14th ace and throws in a supreme forehand winner and a backhand volley en route to a solid hold to 15.

The Bulgarian will be deeply disappointed to have let that two-set lead slip but he needs to forget it all now and focus on the one-set shoot-out ahead – and this is a good start.

We are going the distance!

Berrettini lands his 20th and 21st aces of the match and booms a forehand up the line on his way to serving out the fourth to love.

Berrettini hits one of the shots of the match as he pulls off a crosscourt forehand pass on the run from way beyond his baseline.

It tees up two break points and he makes it count on the first of them with a simple backhand pass down the line after Dimi didn’t enough with his approach.

Berrettini is all business as he marauds through a hold to 15 to make a mockery of the suggestion there weas scoreboard pressure there…

Is it full-speed ahead to a breaker or will one of these gladiators blink when it matters most?

Scoreboard pressure applied.

Dimitrov ticks off a rapid love hold to leave Matteo needing to hold to stay in the tournament.

Matteo gets back on track with a clean hold and it remains finely poised at the key juncture in this fourth chapter of what has been a highly entertaining match-up so far.

Grigor does just enough with a hugely difficult half volley on the move forward as he romps through a clean hold to hit the front on the board heading into the business end of the set.

Berrettini drops from his halcyon heights and gives Dimi hope at 0-30.

The Bulgarian sweeps a simple slice long but gets it spot-on with one crosscourt on the next point to dart forward and angle away a wonderful volley.

Matteo comes up clutch on serve to save one, but can’t find the space to put away the volley off a rasping backhand pass on the second and the sight of it pinging into the net means we are all square in the fourth!

‘Sorry, not sorry,’ is pretty much the feeling of Dimitrov as his backhand pass clips the tape and denies Matteo a volley at the net.

There’s no recovery from there as the wildcard stays in touch with a rampant love hold.

Berrettini stretches high into the sky to bat a simple overhead to the open court after Dimitrov had somehow turned on the afterburners to reach his deft touch at the net.

It’s good hustle from the Bulgarian but it’s all in vain as the Italian outfoxes him with a volley off the re-drop that hits the tape and flies over to conclude a love hold.