After the shock news that Roger Federer will skip the 2021 Australian Open, Lucas Pouille also pulled out of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year for the second consecutive year.
According to the French sport newspaper Pouille will take in two Challenger tournaments in Quimper (25-31 January) and Orleans (1-7 February). The Frenchman played just one match in 2020 at the ATP Challenger in Indian Wells losing to Noah Rubin and fell back to world number 70 in the ATP Ranking. He underwent elbow surgery last July.
The French player decided against a trip to Melbourne after consultation with his team formed by Nicolas Renevand and Thierry Ascione.
Pouille lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinal of the Australian Open in 2019 and rose to a career-high of number 10.
