Tennis star Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard was forced to retire from a match Monday after hitting the ball back into his own eye.
The freak incident occurred during his match with Arthur Gea in the first round of the Open Occitanie in Montpellier, France.
Trailing 5–3 in the opening set, the World No. 57 attempted to return a stripe down the line from Gea — but the ball clipped his racket and ricocheted directly into his eye.
Mpetshi Perricard clutched his face and collapsed in agony, and a hush fell over the crowd at Sud de France Arena as medical staff rushed to his aid.
After several minutes, the 22-year-old Frenchman attempted to persevere with a bloodshot eye — but only managed to play one more point, calling it quits after dropping the first set by a score of 6–3.
While Mpetshi Perricard has yet to comment, a shaken-up Gea reflected on the unfortunate outcome shortly after.
“It’s never easy to see a friend injured,” he said. “It’s never easy to see this.”
Mpetshi Perricard was originally slated to appear in Tuesday’s doubles main draw, teaming up with Stan Wawrinka to face Hendrik Jebens and Ray Ho, according to Yahoo Sports.
It seems that plans have changed following his injury, as Jebens and Ho kicked off the opening round against Clement Chidekh and Arthur Raymond.
Mpetshi Perricard’s eye injury marks punctuates a brutal stretch for the former burgeoning star, who cracked the sport’s top 30 in 2024 before his momentum fizzled.
He entered the Open Occitanie on the heels of a first-round exit in the Australian Open against Sebastian Baez.