German doubles specialist Tim Puetz injured his eye in a freak on-court accident at the Qatar Open on Wednesday.
In the second set of the quarterfinal clash between Puetz-Frederik Nielsen and top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, Puetz accidentally hit himself in the eye with the racquet.
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He was trying to return a serve, and the racquet scraped the court before bouncing off. The handle of the racquet smacked into his eye.
The German cried out in pain, which alerted his fellow players and the umpire that it was a serious injury.
Cabal gets him a chair and Mo sprints over with ice. #QatarExxonMobilOpen2021 pic.twitter.com/6mdvfNpm24
— Tennis GIFs 🎾🎥 (@tennis_gifs) March 10, 2021
One of his opponents quickly grabbed a chair and brought it to him. Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani rushed to his aid with a bag of ice.
“I cannot see very well,” Puetz told a trainer.
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“Freddie I can see pretty well when I’m stationary. But if I look around, I can’t see very well.”
Farah sent his well wishes to Puetz after the match.
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“I feel very sorry for Tim,” he said in his on-court interview.”It’s something none of us want, to get hit in the eye, and I really hope he recovers really well.”
Puetz was unfortunately forced to retire from the quarterfinal clash. The match was stopped with Farah-Cabal 6-3 in the lead.
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