Australian Open | Prajnesh enters as lucky loser

It will be his fifth straight appearance in the main draw of a Slam

Sneaking through: Prajnesh was able to make the Australian Open as one of the direct entrants withdrew.

India’s Prajnesh Gunnewaran on Saturday 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 but was fortunate to make the main draw as one of the direct entrants withdrew from the tournament.

It will be Prajnesh’s fifth straight appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam.

Last year also, he had come through the qualifiers in Melbourne but made the cut at Wimbledon, French Open and the US Open owing to better ranking.

First round against Ito

A good draw has put Prajnesh against Japanese Tatsuma Ito, ranked 22 places below the Indian at 144.

The 30-year-old now 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.

Prajnesh said he was not looking beyond the first round. “I am very happy I got the lucky loser spot and I am only thinking about my first round now. I will try to make the most of it.

“Ito is a very good player. He was in top-100 and is experienced. I will need to play well to beat him,” Prajnesh said.