John Millman remains hopeful of competing at Indian Wells in barely a week despite suffering a scratched cornea and eye inflammation from a freak on-court accident.
Playing American Marcos Giron in Acapulco on Wednesday, Millman tried to block an incoming tennis ball behind him to the ball kid when it flicked up and hit him in his right eye.
The Australian, ranked No.80 in the world, immediately dropped to the court and clutched at his eye.
He retired from the match soon after, trailing Giron by a set and 2-0, a week after returning to form with a semi-final run at the Delray Beach Open.
“It was just a super unfortunate accident. The ball didn’t hit me hard, but as I went to flick it to the ball kid, with my back turned, it hit the frame as I was turning around,” Millman told News Corp.
“I didn’t know where the ball was and it got me flush on the eyeball. My eye was completely open when it hit it – (the ball) literally could have hit half a centimetre anywhere else and it would have been fine.
“Straightaway the eye closed up. The physio came on and opened it a little with eye drops but it still wanted to close. I tried playing a few more points but actually couldn’t see out of the right eye.
“It was completely fogged over and I couldn’t locate the ball, so I was playing pretty blind. Unfortunately, in tennis, you can’t wait around to see if it gets better, so there was really no point in continuing to play.”
Millmxjmtzywan has since seen a doctor and received medication for pain and to reduce the inflammation in his injured eye.
“The good news is that the retina is not detached, (but) I have scratching to the cornea,” he said.
“As of now, I am still wearing a patch, but when I have removed it, my eye is still closed up, there is some bruising and it remains completely bloodshot.
“My focus is slowly getting better, but it is still blurry. I’m still over here, as I would like to try to play Indian Wells, but it’s a waiting game before I can get on court again.”
The prestigious Indian Wells Masters, held in California and one of the biggest tournaments outside the grand slams, is due to start on March 8.
