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The lucky loser is a term used in tennis for players who lose in matches of qualifying rounds but draw again in tournaments due to disqualification or absence of any player due to illness or some other real reason.
The lucky loser takes the place of the withdrawn player to avoid the financial burden and damaging effects of withdrawing.
After Lucky loser was created, the same procedure was adopted by ITF & FFTT (international tennis federation ).
Main Aspects For Lucky Loser Draw/ Entry
It has two main aspects: first, no player will suffer financial hardship by competing.
Secondly, this mechanism ensures fairer competition as losing teams must compete against each other, rather than simply playing once more after their losing team has withdrawn.
The creation of this mechanism ensured a better balance between first and second teams, thus improving the overall level of play.
Lucky loser players draw in the tournament as wild card entries of withdrawn players and participate in qualifying rounds as the last entry.
This type of competition would enable top losers to fight against high-level players without jeopardizing their health or chances of getting into top ranking.
Therefore these types of tournaments can provide very good practice for up and coming players and provide valuable match practice for all levels of players.
Opportunity For Lucky Losers
There is a provision for the winning side to play with lucky losers.
It allows them to develop new tactics or strategies against opponents who would otherwise be highly skilled and may also be tired after losing on a day-to-day basis.
In contrast, the current state of the tour encourages most players to save their energy for higher-ranked opponents who would not otherwise challenge them on any level.
Match Injury Protection:(MIP)
The withdrawal system, which ensures equality for both winning and losing sides, is called the Match injury protection system (MIP).
This system has been introduced by FFTT & ITF for ATP Tour events since 2013.
MIP enables withdrawal from a match with the equal right of appeal by either side in case of an unfair loss or injuries sustained during the match.
Such decisions shall be final and binding on both parties. A decision made under MIP cannot be overturned or modified at any stage in any subsequent court proceedings.
No Financial Losses
It would enable withdrawals without serious financial losses, providing more equal opportunities for weaker sides to enter tournaments and ensure quality matches to boost participation in FFTT & ITF affiliated tournaments.
Another advantage of such a system is that a game played under MIP cannot be subsequently excluded or declared lost due to unavoidable circumstances like personal issues of players, bad weather, flooding, etc.
Under this system, the loser will have no right to pursue claims against the winner under Laws of Tennis and ITF regulations.
However, such decisions can be reviewed by ATP after applying necessary sanctions to protect players’ right to compete at an appropriate level and promote high standards of tennis at ATP Tour events.
ATP will set the time frame for applying sanctions after consideration of particular facts of each case.