Australian Open: Rain postpones Prajnesh's first round match

India’s top-ranked tennis player Prajnesh Gunneswaran’s Australian Open first-round match against Japanese Tatsuma Ito has been rescheduled for Tuesday (January 21) because of rain.

The world no.122, who entered the main draw of the men’s singles event as a lucky loser in the qualifiers, was scheduled to play Ito, ranked 144th in the world on Monday (January 20). However, all matches in the courts outside Rod Laver Arena have been cancelled.

If Prajnesh wins against Ito, he could face world no. 2 Novak Djokovic in the second round.

Also read: Australian Open: Prajnesh enters main draw, may face Djokovic

This is Prajnesh’s fifth straight appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam event having earlier played in the Wimbledon, French Open and the US Open due to his better rankings.

At the 2019 US Open, Sumit Nagal ran into legendary Roger Federer and caused a few ripples by a taking a set off the Swiss.

The hard-working Prajnesh lost his top-100 rank towards the end of 2019 season as he suffered a few reversals, probably because of the falling health of his father, who passed after losing a battle with cancer.

Nagal and Ramkumar Ramanathan had failed to enter the main draw as both of them lost in the qualifiers.

(With inputs from agencies)