Asian number one junior player, Karan Rastogi of India was extended a wild card in the main draw of the ATP Tour Tata Open Tennis Championship commencing at Chennai on January 5.

Rastogi was given the wild card in place of Leander Paes, who withdrew from the event so as to have more time to recover from the brain cyst which he suffered in July last year.

Commenting on the wild card entry, an excited Rastogi said "it is a matter of pride for me to play my first ATP Tour event in India."

Rastogi, who has been ranked sixth in the acceptance list for the Australian Open Juniors tournament later this month, had a reasonably successful year in 2003, where he defeated ten of the top 50 players in the world, including Adrian Ungur of Romania, one of the top ten.

The Australian Open standing of Rastogi is the highest position for any Indian Junior player in a Grand Slam since Paes, more than a decade ago.

With a large number of Indian players having to qualify for the tournament proper, Rastogi has been given this honour based on his standing in Asia and also the organisers endeavour to help younger Indian players.

In the past, it was Sunil Kumar of Chandigarh, who was extended a wild card, along with Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.