As a general rule, you call someone a loser at your peril.
But in tennis, when a player is told by tournament officials that he is a “lucky loser,” those two words are music to his ears.
A lucky loser is a player who lost in the qualifying rounds but was later admitted to the main draw following a player’s withdrawal from the main draw, usually due to illness or injury.
On Sunday, Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff will look to become the first lucky loser to win an ATP Masters 1000 title when he takes on top seed Carlos Alcaraz in the Mutua Madrid Open final. In the semi-finals, Struff also had the rare satisfaction of avenging his last round loss to Aslan Karatsev.
So how does the lucky loser process work?
The timing of a player’s removal from the main draw determines which qualified losers have the chance to advance to the main draw as a lucky loser.
If a withdrawal from the main draw takes place After At the end of qualifying, the highest ranked player who lost in the last qualifying round enters the main draw as the lucky loser. If a second withdrawal from the main draw occurs after the end of qualifying, second place is awarded to the second highest ranked loser from the last qualifying round.
If a withdrawal from the main draw takes place Before the end of qualifying, then the two highest-ranked losers from the last qualifying round enter a draw for the main draw spot. If two main draw withdrawals occur before qualifying ends, the three highest ranked losers from the last qualifying round enter a draw for two main draw slots.
After falling to Karatsev in qualifying 11 days ago, Struff was in tears, beating American Ben Shelton, Banja champion Luka Dusan Lajovic, Pedro Cachin and fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas before taking revenge on Karatsev to become the first lucky loser to reach the final at an ATP Masters 1000 event (since 1990). If he beats Carlos Alcaraz and wins his first Tour-level title on Sunday, the 33-year-old will become the second lucky loser to triumph at a Tour-level event this season.
Soonwoo Kwon lost to Tomas Machac in the final qualifying round in Adelaide in January before beating the Czech in the main draw en route to the ATP 250 trophy.
