Lucky loser Prajnesh in Oz Open main draw

Melbourne, January 18

Prajnesh Gunneswaran sneaked into the Australian Open men’s singles main draw as a lucky loser and may run into world No. 2 Novak Djokovic if he clears the first hurdle.

The Indian left-hander had lost the final qualifying round to Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis in straight sets (6-7 2-6) but was fortunate to make the main draw as one of the direct entrants withdrew from the tournament. It will be Gunneswaran’s fifth straight appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam.

Last year also, the Chennai player had come through the qualifiers in Melbourne but made the cut at Wimbledon, French Open and the US Open on the basis of his ATP ranking. A good draw has put Gunneswaran against Japanese Tatsuma Ito, ranked 22 places below the Indian at 144. This will be the first meeting of the duo. The 30-year-old Indian not only has the opportunity to win his maiden Grand Slam main draw match but also to set up a showdown with Serbian great Djokovic. — PTI