With a wrist injury, Lucas Pouille has not had the opportunity to defend his ranking in recent weeks in order to ensure his place in the big picture in Melbourne.
The Northerner, who is 99th in the world this week, was currently entering the cut of the main draw of the Australian Open.
But that was without counting on the performances of several players ranked behind him, determined to get their ticket to Melbourne.
Thus, there are three players who will move ahead of the Frenchman in the rankings after this week of competition on the Challenger circuit: Federico Coria, Damir Dzumhur and Camilo Ugo Carabelli.
Dzumhur beat Coria in the semi-final in Maia (Portugal) while Ugo Carabelli is present in the final in Temuco (Chile).
The situation could even get worse for Pouille if Francesco Passaro wins the Maia Challenger against Dzumhur tomorrow. The Italian would then enter the Top 100 and Pouille would go down to 102nd in the ranking.
The Frenchman will therefore have to hope for withdrawals to obtain his place in the main draw of the Australian Open and avoid qualifying.
