Indian Wells

Lucky loser: Rodionov makes it into the main draw after all

Yuriy Rodionov may have lost his qualifying duel in Indian Wells against Nicolas Morena de Alboran, but he can still celebrate. As a lucky loser, the Lower Austrian still makes it into the main draw.

Sebastian Ofner got red-white-red "reinforcements" in the main competition of the Masters 1000 tennis tournament in Indian Wells after all: Although Yuriy Rodionov surprisingly lost in the second qualifying round as number six seed against the American Nicolas Morena de Alboran after 2:02 hours with 3:6,6:4,3:6, the Lower Austrian later slipped into the main draw as a lucky loser thanks to the withdrawal of a player.

Austria's top 100 player will now face Hungary's Fabian Marozsan. Marozsan won the only previous clash between the two at a Challenger in Bratislava in 2022 thanks to Rodionov's withdrawal. Ofner will play his first round match against Croatian Borna Coric on Thursday night (not before 03:00 CET).