London, June 29 (IANS) Serena Williams says she is thrilled to see close friend Grigor Dimitrov back competing at Wimbledon after the Bulgarian’s injury-plagued year, describing him as her “guy bestie” and admitting it was difficult to watch his heartbreaking retirement from last year’s Championships.

Williams returns to Wimbledon for her first singles match since the 2022 US Open. She met up with Dimitrov at the All England Club on Friday, where they embraced warmly before the tournament.

At her pre-tournament press conference on Sunday, the 23-time Grand Slam champion spoke about their long friendship. “I always call Grigor my bestie; he’s definitely my guy bestie,” Williams was quoted by ATP as saying. “It was so good to see him. We obviously communicate outside of Grand Slams. I haven’t seen him in almost a year, so it was nice to catch up. I have so many good memories with Grigor. He gets my crazy, and I get his crazy. Believe me, he’s way crazier than I am.”

Dimitrov returns to Wimbledon a year after one of the toughest moments in his career. The former world No. 3 had to retire due to a pectoral injury while leading eventual champion and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner 6-3, 7-5, 2-2 in their fourth-round match on Centre Court. An emotional Bulgarian left the court in tears as his hopes were crushed by injury.

The 35-year-old didn’t compete again until late October, when he won a match at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris. Unfortunately, he was forced to withdraw again because of an injury.

His comeback stayed challenging in the early months of 2026. He faced first-round losses in Dallas, Acapulco, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid, and ATP Challenger events in Aix-en-Provence and Bordeaux, as well as in Roland Garros qualifying.

Despite this, Dimitrov has shown promise on grass this month, winning four matches in tournaments in Dublin and Mallorca before Wimbledon.

Williams, who opens her campaign against Australia’s Maya Joint, expressed her happiness at seeing Dimitrov healthy again after such a tough time. “It was really tough to see that last year,” Williams said about Dimitrov’s injury. “He’s had a tough year just dealing with it. You just have to keep fighting and keep coming back.”

Dimitrov will start his Wimbledon journey on Tuesday, facing Australian qualifier Dane Sweeny in the first round.

–IANS

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