Tennis is not for the faint-hearted. From grueling rallies to unforeseen injuries, the sport keeps players on their toes—literally and figuratively. Ellen Perez, Australia’s very own doubles ace and World No. 9, experienced this firsthand during her second-round doubles match at the Australian Open on Saturday. What happened to her? Let’s just say it’s something you don’t see every day.

Perez and her partner, Elise Mertens, faced off against Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse. The stakes were high, and the crowd was buzzing. In the second set, during an intense rally, Perez moved toward the net for a shot. But in a shocking turn, the ball came flying straight at her head. The impact was hard enough to leave her with a black eye.

The Australian called for a medical timeout shortly after, visibly shaken. The damage was evident as her black eye started to swell. However, in a true show of grit, Ellen Perez decided to push through and continue playing.

Despite her determination, Perez and Mertens couldn’t turn things around. They ultimately lost the match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. It was a tough day on home soil, but her resilience didn’t go unnoticed. Seems like her injury isn’t too serious. She is currently battling Kevin Krawietz and Nina Stojanović with her doubles partner Mate Pavić in her mixed doubles first-round match at Court 16.

Ellen Perez has had a rollercoaster of a week, from getting a black eye during her doubles match at the Australian Open to sparking a fiery social media exchange. After battling on court, the Aussie star found herself battling online, and just like on the court, she didn’t hold back. So what actually happened?

Ellen Perez deals with trolls as she comes to Danielle Collin’s defense

It all began when Danielle Collins stirred controversy with her post-match celebration following a win against Destanee Aiava on 16th January. Collins, who had been exchanging words with the Australian crowd during the match, went further by cupping her hand to her ear, blowing kisses to the audience, and giving them the “Kiss my a**” gesture. Amused by the drama, Perez tweeted, “Danielle Collins’ post match celebration is one for the books.”

But things took a nasty turn when a user replied, calling the American tennis player “disgusting,” and cruelly adding, “She is a disgusting 🗑️🤡 should have retired but all she does is lie and cheat! Hopefully, she stays childless.” The comment struck a nerve, and Perez wasn’t having it.

She fired back with, “Doris, you wishing hate and punishment on someone is disgusting and makes you yourself a total Karen. Even if someone is a terrible person you should never stoop to a level to hate someone or you are part of the problem. You should be ashamed of how rude you also are.”

The user didn’t back down, accusing Perez of supporting Collins, saying, “She herself is hating players and you support this in thinking her trash behavior is funny! The liar should have retired as she said, but some love attention too much.”

Perez quickly clarified her stance, writing, “Again, because clearly you can’t read… at no point am I ‘supporting’ her. You can’t actually tell which side I’m taking. I’m just laughing at the celebration and saying it’s going in the history books. You should retire from Twitter though, but some just love dishing hate too much.”

From her black eye on the court to this social media storm, Perez seems to be taking every hit in stride.