Let's be fair. Both players in the second-round Wimbledon 2026 match between Grigor Dimitrov and Jakub Mensik deserved to win. Neither player played poorly, and both performances might force you to go back and watch the match on replay; the only negative for tennis fans is that the match had to have a loser.
Every set was tight, almost every game about to teeter on who could take control, and yet someone had to take the best-of-five match. Dimitrov took the first set in a tie-break 7-5, but Mensik got the second set 6-4 before the veteran Bulgarian took set three 7-5.
Just when one player appeared to be verging on taking full control, the other would quickly change that narrative, and had to do so at a high level. Neither player was likely to give the match away. One was going to have to earn the victory.
Grigor Dimitrov makes tennis fans everywhere happy by winning his second-round match at Wimbledon 2026
The Wimbledon crowd was exceedingly fair, too. They could have firmly been on the side of longtime fan-favorite Dimitrov, one of the nicest guys to ever pick up a racket and play professional tennis. But Mensik, just 20 years old and 15 years younger than his opponent, was worthy of appreciation, too. Maybe he will be the next Dimitrov, though hopefully with better health and, therefore, more success.
The match appeared to be headed toward a fifth set, too, after Mensik got an early break in the fourth. That would have been fitting, as both players deserved the chance to win the match in one decisive set. Instead, Dimitrov got the break back, and, stunningly, another.
He suddenly led 5-3 and had the match on his racket. The crowd, by this point, had disabused themselves of false loyalty and were firmly on the side of Mensik, though with respect for what they were watching from Mensik. No one wanted the match to end, but almost everyone wanted Dimitrov to win it.
He had played at a level in 2025 where he might have put himself into a position to win Wimbledon, but after leading Jannik Sinner by two sets in the fourth round, he tore a pec muscle and had to retire. He's due, and maybe 2026 will be the year. After a tight game, he was able to hold to take the fourth set 6-3.
Grigor Dimitrov will next play another one of the nicest guys in tennis. In the third round of Wimbledon, he will take on Matteo Berrettini. The shame will be that there has to be a loser.
