A scary moment took place at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam Saturday. David Goffin went to return a passing shot from Grigor Dimitrov in their semifinal showdown and volleyed the ball into his own eye.
The Belgian had to, unfortunately, retire after this as he was trying to bring himself back into the match after losing the opening set 3-6. Dimitrov is through to the final now and will face Roger Federer who defeated Andreas Seppi.
Another Unlucky Moment For Goffin
This freak accident is another unlucky moment for the Belgian. If we recall at the last French Open, the Nitto ATP Finals finalist slipped on a tarp in the back of the court. The world number seven was forced to retire from his third round match against Horacio Zeballos.
The slip on the tarp prompted ten-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal and former French Open Garbiñe Muguruza to talk about the dangers of the tarp being on the back of the court. The slip gave the world number seven an ankle injury which really hampered him for the remainder of the summer.
Goffin withdrew from the grass court season altogether and struggled to pick up victories during the summer hard court season. After this though, he rebounded quite well, picking up titles in back-to-back weeks in Shenzhen and Tokyo (biggest to date) and made his biggest ever final at the O2 in the Nitto ATP Finals (defeated Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the process).
No Structural Damage
Fortunately, tennis journalist Dewulf Filip broke the news that there is no structural damage in Goffin's eye which bodes very well for Belgian's future. The incident did leave some fluid behind the Belgian's eye which will require a week off for Goffin and a withdrawal from the Open 13 in Marseille. Goffin should be back for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells to kick off the Sunshine Double in the United States.