Strokes Of Luck

Six players who grabbed their second chance

By Sam Jacot

Michael Mmoh/Soonwoo Kwon. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Lifeline

Most ATP Tour players don’t take kindly to being called lucky, let alone being labelled a loser. But combining those words and telling a player that he is a Lucky Loser will almost certainly bring a smile to his face.

A Lucky Loser – arguably one of the greatest phrases in sports – is a player who is beaten in the qualifying rounds but who gets handed a lifeline into the main draw following the withdrawal of another player, typically due to illness or injury.

From last-minute dashes from hotel rooms to make the match on time, to standing up Rafael Nadal on the practice court to completing a Lucky Loser calendar year grand slam, ATPTour.com explores six notable stories of reversals of fortune.

Stefan Kozlov. Photo Credit: Getty Images for ATP Tour

Stefan Kozlov

American crashes jet ski & hits with Nadal before win

As days go, they don’t get more eventful than Stefan Kozlov’s Monday at the 2022 Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

After losing in qualifying, the American decided to spend the day at the beach, riding a jet ski around the bay. Things quickly took a turn for the worst, though, when he lost control and crashed into rocks. He had a nervous 30-minute wait before being rescued.

Shaken but not deterred, Kozlov dusted himself off and made his way to the practice courts to hit with Rafael Nadal. However, things would once again take a dramatic twist.

When Nadal was serving at 3-3, 0/15 in the practice set, the Spaniard broke a string. While the 22-time major champion was looking for a new racquet, Kozlov checked his phone. Much to his astonishment, his phone was brimming with WhatsApp messages telling him that he had to be on court in the next match in the stadium instead of Maxime Cressy, a last-minute withdrawal from the Acapulco ATP 500.

How could he do that? He didn’t even have the right outfit to play in. “All of my clothes were wet because they were at the laundry,” Kozlov told ATPTour.com at the time. Additionally, he would have to abandon his practice with the legendary Spaniard. “He jokingly told me ‘You can’t go, we have to finish the set.’ I replied: ‘No Rafa, I have to go, but I’ll put this down as a win because I was one point ahead’.”

Together with his coach Chris Wettengel and his physio Andy Hanley, he managed to reach the new tournament venue on time, after a five-minute car journey from his hotel.

Pumped with adrenaline, Kozlov found his best level against Grigor Dimitrov, moving to a 7-6(8), 5-3 lead. As Kozlov had discovered that day, however, nothing is simple. On the verge of the biggest (and most unlikely) victory of his career, he started to cramp, falling to the ground in pain when serving for the match. After losing the second set, Kozlov limped around the court, saving six break points in the first game of the third set before the cramps slowly resided. With the Mexican fans in support, the American dragged himself ahead, triumphing in three hours and 21 minutes at 1:06 a.m. local time.

“It was a long, crazy day!” Kozlov said. “I really had to fight for it, but I’m happy to have had the spirit to fight and to have played my best tennis until the end.”

His reward? A second-round clash against his sparring partner from last night: Nadal.

Stefan Kozlov. Photo Credit: PAUL CROCK/AFP via Getty Images

Robin Haase. Photo Credit: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Robin Haase

Dutchman's dash from hotel to court

‘Game, set, match, Haase.’

They were the words Robin Haase was not expecting to hear as he rested on his bed three hours earlier at the 2023 Adelaide International 2.

After losing in the final round of qualifying to Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Monday, Haase’s singles hopes seemed over. That was until the Dutchman, who was due to compete in doubles on Tuesday evening, received a big surprise.

While relaxing in his hotel room, waiting to head to Memorial Drive for a 2:15 p.m. lunch, he received a call from the ATP Tour manager on site. The 35-year-old was asked if he could make it to the venue by 2 p.m. to take a lucky loser spot in the singles draw. He had just four minutes to scramble from his room to court.

“I was speed-walking and I forgot my accreditation so I [saw] the security guard while I was running. He said, ‘Hey, you need to get scanned’, and I was like, ‘Yeah just follow me, I’ve got to go on court.’ I told him [to] get security. It was kind of funny,” Haase told ATPTour.com.

The Dutchman had eaten a “very early” breakfast because he trained with doubles partner Matwe Middelkoop at 10 a.m. Haase “wasn’t hungry at all”, but Middelkoop wanted to eat, so the two-time ATP Tour singles titlist ate a “tiny sandwich” at 11:20 a.m. That was all he had in his stomach when he took the court against Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi. During the match, he ate half a banana.

“Of course I didn’t have any warmup, so I decided to use the first few games as a warmup because I didn’t want to get injured,” Haase said. “Then I started to play actually quite good. He served for the match and my girlfriend, I told her as a joke, ‘Every point I win now we do a small dance’, and suddenly I broke him and it worked and I got loose.

“He had a match point in the second-set tie-break as well and then [in the] third set coming down from a break again was unbelievable.”

Haase, who was No. 257 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings at the time, ultimately won his first ATP Tour main draw match since February 2021, advancing past Bonzi 3-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(3).

“In the end I played a good match and then it’s crazy to win it,” Haase said. “I’ve been an alternate and a lucky loser and the way it happened, I think I had all the luck in the world.”

Michael Mmoh. Photo Credit: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Michael Mmoh

American had booked flight home...

Michael Mmoh was sitting in his hotel room watching the Dallas Cowboys play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL playoffs when he received a call that sparked his 2023 Australian Open run to life.

The American had lost in the final round of qualifying and his hopes of taking a spot in the main draw at the hard-court major appeared slim, so he booked his flight home.

“At that point, [I thought I had] zero [chance]. At this point I was even talking to my fiancee, and she was like, ‘Why don't you fly out tonight?’ I was, like, ‘I would, but I don't even think there [are] flights,’” Mmoh recalled. “I'm here now. Like, what if I was at the airport and somehow I got a last-minute call? Then I would be screwed. So I've got to stay just this one afternoon basically.”

Mmoh’s decision to stay quickly paid off.

“I was fully locked in on that [NFL] game. Then all of a sudden I got a call from the ATP guy. Right when I saw the notification, I answered it right away. Like, literally,” Mmoh told ATPTour.com. "I have never answered a phone call so fast in my life. First ring, and I was on it.”

The 25-year-old was told get to site, since there was a possibility David Goffin would withdraw. When the news was confirmed, the American was given the green light that he would be facing Frenchman Laurent Lokoli on Court 13. In the match ahead of them, Linda Fruhvirtova was leading Jaimee Fourlis 6-0, 2-0.

“I literally just grabbed my bag, grabbed a bunch of match clothes. Luckily everything was kind of in there already. Went straight to the site,” Mmoh said. “Also luckily, that match slowed down a little bit…”

After Fruhvirtova sealed a 6-0 6-4 win against Fourils, Mmoh took to court. Through the whirlwind of events, Lokoli took a 6-4, 6-2, 6-6 (6/6) lead, when a rain delay sent the players off court with the Frenchman two points from victory. When they returned, Mmoh missed a short forehand to give Lokoli match point, putting the World No. 175 on the brink of his first tour-level win.

The Frenchman double faulted to give Mmoh another lifeline. The American took full advantage of the opportunity. He won the tie-break, claimed the fourth set and then cruised through the decider.

The dream run did not stop there. Mmoh on Thursday stunned two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev in four sets to reach the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time.

“I don't know if I'm going to finally wake up or something. It just doesn’t seem real,” Mmoh reflected at the time. “The past 48 hours have been a complete whirlwind from going from being ready to go back home, booking a flight, packing my bags. I was supposed to leave yesterday,” Mmoh said. “Now I'm here, and I just had the best win of my career. It just doesn't seem real.”

The American was stopped in the third round by J.J. Wolf, but left Melbourne at a then-career-high No. 83 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Michael Mmoh. Photo Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Peter Polansky. Photo Credit: KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images

Peter Polanksy. Photo Credit: SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images

Peter Polansky

Canadian completed lucky loser calendar Slam in 2018

For Peter Polansky, 2018 was a year like none other. The Canadian fell in qualifying at the four Grand Slams but was gifted a lucky loser lifeline at not one but all four majors, completing what was affectionately dubbed the Lucky Loser Grand Slam.

At the Australian Open, he was the first lucky loser selected. At Roland Garros, he was the second drawn and at Wimbledon he smashed the single-season record with a third lucky loser entry of the year.

At the final major of the year, the Canadian was defeated by Donald Young 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 in the final round of US Open qualifying. Hours later, Polansky raised his arms in triumph as he emerged from the tournament office. It was a Grand Slam of luck in one year.

“What happened was I got in as a lucky loser at the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon barely and then US Open rolls around. I get into the second round of qualifying, win that round and get to the final qualifying round… I ended up losing. But luckily, if you want to call it luck, I got in again as a lucky loser and that completed the calendar lucky loser slam,” Polansky recalled.

When Mitchell Krueger claimed the final qualifying spot, marking the conclusion of qualies week, all that was left to do was draw the chips. At the US Open, the four highest-ranked players who lost in the final round were the first competitors eligible for a lucky loser entry. When Pablo Cuevas and Jared Donaldson both withdrew due to injury, two spots opened up.

That meant that two players among Polansky, Lorenzo Sonego, Ruben Bemelmans and Nicolas Mahut were selected at random. Numbered chips were assigned to each player and Polansky took matters into his own hands. Literally. As is standard practice, anyone can pull chips, and under the careful eye of a tournament official he fortuitously picked out his own number from a blind draw.

"I drew the chips myself as soon as Krueger's match ended. I was thinking I'll take matters into my own hands. I picked it for Australia and I picked myself. At the French Open and Wimbledon, I wasn't around for it. Today, I was just thinking that it's the last one of the year and I've already gotten it three times, so I might as well go for it. I picked the chips and I selected myself first. The second one was Sonego. Just too good."

Soonwoo Kwon. Photo Credit: Getty Images for ATP Tour

Soonwoo Kwon

South Korean triumphed at ATP 250

When Soonwoo Kwon lost against Tomas Machac in the final round of qualifying in Adelaide this year, few would have expected to see him lifting the trophy at the ATP 250 one week later.

After receiving a spot in the draw as a lucky loser, title success became a reality for Kwon in the South Australian capital, where he defeated Roberto Bautista Agut in the final to polish off a stirring tale of second-chance success. The 25-year-old earned a revenge win against Machac in the first round, before he defeated Pablo Carreno Busta, Mikael Ymer and Jack Draper to reach the final. In an epic title match against Bautista Agut , Kwon triumphed in a third-set tie-break after two hours and 43 minutes to become the first lucky loser to lift a tour-level trophy since Marco Cecchinato in Budapest in 2018.

“Since being beaten in [qualifying], I told myself I've got nothing to lose, and then I came all the way to the finals,” said Kwon after his 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4) victory. “And why not? I put every energy into it, and that worked.”

With his triumph, Kwon became the first South Korean to win multiple ATP Tour titles. He won his maiden tour-level crown in Astana in 2021.

Soonwoo Kwon. Photo Credit: BRENTON EDWARDS/AFP via Getty Images

Jan-Lennard Struff. Photo Credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour

Jan-Lennard Struff

First lucky loser to reach Masters 1000 final

Jan-Lennard Struff made history at the Mutua Madrid Open this year when he became the first lucky loser to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final.

Twelve days earlier, the German’s chances in Madrid seemed over after he lost to Aslan Karatsev in the second qualifying round. The 33-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals as a qualifier in Monte-Carlo in April, gained a second chance, though, after receiving a lucky loser spot in the main draw.

“I lost at 11:00 in the morning. The match wasn't that long. Then I heard that one guy pulled out, I think it was Constant Lestienne and Fabio Fognini pulled out, and if they pull out during the qualifying draw, they will decide by lot or coins,” Struff said when recalling the lucky loser process. “There were two lucky loser spots, so they take three in total. And after the qualifying finished they did it, and they have always one representative to take the coins, and luckily he picked me. He text me straight away. It was a bit lucky.”

Struff made full use of his lifeline, overpowering Lorenzo Sonego in the first round before he showed an abundance of grit to earn five consecutive three-set victories en route to his second tour-level final. The German defeated Top-5 star Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals before he gained revenge against qualifier Karatsev in the semi-finals.

Struff pushed Carlos Alcaraz to three sets in a thrilling final, but fell just short of clinching his maiden tour-level title. The 33-year-old rose 37 spots to a career-high No. 28 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings following his run and was delighted with his historic achievement in Madrid.

“It's been an incredible journey from lucky loser to be in the final [and] runner-up here,” Struff said after the final. “I hope that it gives me a lot of push in the next weeks and months. It was a career-best achievement so far.”

Jan-Lennard Struff. Photo Credit: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour

How Does The Lucky Loser Process Work?

The timing of a player’s withdrawal from the main draw determines which qualifying losers have the chance to gain entry to the main draw as a lucky loser.

If a main-draw withdrawal occurs after the completion of qualifying, then the highest-ranked player who lost in the final round of qualifying moves into the main draw as a lucky loser. If a second main-draw withdrawal occurs after the completion of qualifying, the second slot is awarded to the second highest-ranked loser from the final round of qualifying.

If one main-draw withdrawal occurs before the completion of qualifying, then the two highest-ranked losers in the final round of qualifying go into a random draw for the main-draw spot. If two main-draw withdrawals occur before the completion of qualifying, then the three highest-ranked losers in the final round of qualifying go into a random draw for two main-draw slots.