Late yesterday, plucky crowd favourite Hyeon Chung had to pull out in the second set of his Australian Open semi-finals match against Roger Federer, saying a very nasty blister on his foot was getting in the way of his game.
Many were devastated to see the unseeded South Korean player go, but after his retirement from the match, Chung’s agent told media that there was no other choice, adding that his injuries were far beyond your typical blister. He explained:
“Over the last few days, it was blister under blister under blister. He had it shaved off, now it’s red raw. They tried injections to see if it numbed the pain, it didn’t work. It’s much worse than a regular blister. I think a lot of players get calluses. As they go along, they shave them down. Because he [Chung] has played so many matches in the row, I think that’s why it was a build-up. I think that’s how they started.”
How bad was Hyeon Chung’s blister, then? Pretty bloody bad, it turns out. Late last night, the 21-year-old took to Instagram to share a photo of his foot, and we have to warn you, we know full well that you came here to gawk at a gross picture an injury, of it’s pretty gnarly stuff.
Are you ready?
Okay then, here we go:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeahCqcBaem/?taken-by=hyeon519
YEP, THERE IT IS.
Chung assured his may new fans that he tired his hardest to bring his “utmost energy” to the court, but that he simply could not compete with half his bloody foot hanging open, which is pretty understandable, all things considered.
Unfortunate scenes on @RodLaverArena with Hyeon #Chung forced to retire early in his Men’s Singles SF against @RogerFederer 😢
Federer is through to his 7th final here at Melbourne Park. #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/bjsGymyXB6
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2018
In his post-match interview, Roger Federer promised tennis fans that we will see “much more” of Hyeon Chung, and that he is going to be a “great, great player.”
.@RogerFederer will compete in his 3️⃣0️⃣th Grand Slam final on Sunday evening 🐐#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/EGhoqpyYf6
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2018
Get well soon, mate.
