John Millman forced to retire after 'bizarre' injury at Mexico Open
A bizarre eye injury has forced Australian tennis player John Millman to retire hurt from the Mexico Open.
During his first round match against American Marcos Giron in Acapulco, the 32-year-old faced a break point early in the second set, when Millman missed a first serve and Giron courteously hit the ball back to him, as is custom in tennis.
Millman tried to retrieve the ball with his racquet but the ball bounced off the strings and hit him directly on his right eye.
The Aussie immediately dropped to the court and held his eye and called for a medical timeout.
Following the break, Millman tried to continue but could only manage to stay on court for three more points, before retiring hurt and handing Giron a 7-6 2-0 victory.
The ball bounces off his racquet and smacks Millman on the eye. Tennis TV
The chain of events had tennis fans and commentators stumped.
Tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg posted: "Ooof, yikes. Hope he's OK."
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Commentator Jose Morgado tweeted: "Millman injured himself while receiving a ball to serve. Oh gosh."
Sports betting expert Scott Reichel said: "This is one of the weirdest injuries that I have ever seen on a tennis court.
"Millman retired three points later. Crazy. I don't even know what I just watched."
The Aussie can count himself extremely unlucky, especially given he was in good form going into the event.
He reached the semi-finals of the Delray Beach Open last week, where he lost to American Reilly Opelka in a close three set match.
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