TENNIS star Grigor Dimitrov had his £62,000 luxury watch ripped from his wrist by a gang of muggers in Barcelona.
The Bulgarian, 31, was wearing the expensive timepiece in his car when he became the latest high-profile victim of thieves in the Spanish city.
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Dimitrov was returning from training ahead of the Barcelona Open tournament which starts tomorrow.
Police are yet to catch the culprits, who are believed to have been following the popular tennis player on a motorbike before striking in the busy Avenida de Sarria street.
Local reports said a male passenger on the motorbike pushed Dimitrov's wing mirror in after stopping beside the world No25 in traffic before snatching the watch off his wrist as the sportsman went to open it again with his hand.
The timepiece has been described as a Swiss Bianchet watch valued at £62,560.
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Police confirmed they are investigating the theft of an expensive watch on Friday and are said to suspect professional thieves from Naples, who travel from Italy to Spain using fake IDs to commit crimes.
Former world No3 Dimitrov, who has won eight ATP Tour singles titles and has dated Maria Sharapova as well as singer Nicole Scherzinger, went to police on Friday night to make a statement.
Barcelona’s security has been under the spotlight in recent years.
Last May, Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel had a backpack stolen in the city.
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He tried to chase down the thieves by hopping on an electric scooter after a bag was grabbed from his Aston Martin when he got out for a brief moment.
And in August, Barcelona footballer Robert Lewandowski had his £59,000 watch stolen from him as he signed autographs before an evening training session at his club’s Ciutat Esportiva complex.
The striker sprinted after the culprit, who was eventually caught by police who returned the watch to the sportsman.
Dimitrov, who has won more prize money than any other Bulgarian player, achieved his No3 world ranking in November 2017 when he won the year-end ATP Finals.
He has reached the semi-finals at three of the four Grand Slams, including at Wimbledon in 2014 where he lost to champion Novak Djokovic.
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