Salvatore Caruso of Italy returns the ball against Kei Nishikori of Japan during their Men’s Singles first round match on Day Two of the 2021 US Open at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 31, 2021 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Sarah Stier/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Sarah Stier / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Little-known Italian Salvatore Caruso has never gone beyond the third round at the Australian Open, but he was given an unexpected chance to do better Sunday as a late replacement for Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian world number one’s omission after losing his sensational legal battle over his coronavirus vaccination status opened the door for a “lucky loser” from qualifying to step up and take his place.
That fell to Caruso, a 29-year-old ranked 150 in the world who a week ago was beaten in the semi-finals of a lower-tier tournament in Bendigo, outside Melbourne.
But while Djokovic had been scheduled to get the full prime-time Rod Laver Arena experience on Monday against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, Caruso will miss out playing on the main show court.
With the nine-time Australian Open champion now out of the tournament, world number three Alexander Zverev’s clash against Daniel Altmaier will instead feature as the second match of the evening session on Rod Laver Arena with Caruso facing Kecmanovic on an outside court.