CHENNAI: Prajnesh Gunneswaran is likely to feature in the main draw of Pune Open. This is indirectly because of something called as “special exempt” (SE).
The organisers had sent out an 18-man main draw earlier this month, keeping two reserved SE spots. An SE is someone who had been accepted into the qualifying rounds but could not make it in time because he was still playing in the previous tournament. In such a scenario, these players get bumped up to the main draw.
Here’s an illustration to explain the point. Person X is, as of this moment, registered to play in the qualifiers of Pune Open. But he surprisingly reaches the semifinal of the Australian Open. In this scenario, Player X becomes an SE at Pune Open.
With the organisers not expecting any of the players registered to play the qualifiers going big at Australian Open, 31-year-old Prajnesh, who just missed the main draw cut, will automatically be bumped up to the main draw because of the unclaimed SE spots. It’s highly likely that Sumit Nagal, India’s second-best player by ranking, will also get in if there are a couple of withdrawals. “This is the reason why these two Indian players haven’t been wild cards to India’s only ATP World Tour event,” a source in the know said.
The organisers also hope to have “at least one wild card available for any top player who has had a bad Australian Open,” the source said. “If any player who has not entered to play the other two tournaments in the week after Australian Open (Montpellier and Cordoba) and said player loses in the first or second round, the player could always change his mind about playing. So it’s wise to keep at least one wild card free to get somebody who wouldn’t normally be available.”