Toronto, Canada, 6 August 2012 | Tennis Australia

Matthew Ebden has been handed a life-line into the Rogers Cup main draw as a lucky loser after being the highest-ranked player to lose in the final round of qualifying.

Ebden, who lost in a third set tiebreaker to Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, will now face Canadian wildcard Peter Polansky in the main draw first round in Toronto.

Meanwhile, Ebden’s compatriots Marinko Matosevic and Anastasia Rodionova have gone down in qualifying at the prestigious Canadian event.

Matosevic was ousted in the opening round of qualifying in straight sets by American Wayne Odesnik, while across in Montreal, Rodionova fell to 14th seed Vera Dushevina 6-4 6-1 in the second round.

She had earlier beaten American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in straight sets.

The fact the men are playing this year in Toronto while the women do battle in Montreal is part of the Canadian Open’s tradition of rotating the men’s and women’s events between the two cities each year.

Joining Ebden in the main draw is Bernard Tomic, who faces German qualifer Michael Berrer in his opening match.

Sam Stosur is seeded fourth in the women’s event. She receives a bye into the second round, where she will play either Romanian Simona Halep or a qualifier.