Australian John Millman retired mid-way through his first round of the ATP 500 Acapulco suffering a unique injury by a tennis ball. The World No. 80 went down on court after hitting his eye with a tennis ball.

Millman entered Acapulco as a Special Exempt (SE) player, facing American Marcos Giron in the first round. With this win, Giron now leads the head-to-head race 2-1. 

A unique eye injury 

John Millman went neck to neck, fighting at his top level in the first set. He took the set into a tiebreaker. However, it was Giron who took the lead with a 7/3 tiebreaker win. The second set started with Giron’s serve, who took a 1-0 lead. Changing sides, Millman started serving for the second game. 

Having a strong game, Giron stood on advantage. Trying to get back the game in his favor, Millman went on to serve on the advantage side. He went on to catch the ball with his racquet after hitting a first fault when he hit his eye with the ball. 

Millman took the racquet to his back, mistiming the ball. The ball hit the racquet frame, bouncing and hitting Millman’s eyes. Covering his eyes, Millman fell on the court. It followed, with him retiring from the match.

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Giron will now face the 8th seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round. 

John Millman in 2022

After ending his 2021 season with a first-round loss to Argentinian Diego Schwartzman at the ATP Masters 1000 Paris, Millman looked forward to starting his 2022 with a better result. 

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He kicked off his 2022 season at the ATP 250 Adelaide 1, suffering a first-round loss to fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis. It was followed by his second first-round loss of the season at the ATP 250 Adelaide 2.

Not losing hope, Millman entered the Australian Open. However, he suffered another early-round exit, losing in the second round of the opening slam of the year. The loss was again followed by a first-round loss at ATP 250 Dallas. 

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Next playing at the ATP 250 Delray Beach, Millman saw a bright ray of hope as he reached the semi-finals there. However, the happiness was short-lived as he suffered another first-round loss after suffering an eye injury in Acapulco.

The former top 40 player will look to take some time off and find his best form going forward.