Marco Trungelliti's 1,000 km journey not in vain after downing Bernard Tomic in French Open first round
Trungelliti, a 28-year-old Argentinian, beat Tomic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to secure a place in the second round
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Your support makes all the difference.Marco Trungelliti drove 650 miles on Sunday in a small hire car with his brother, mother and 88-year-old grandmother in order to play here in the French Open the following day. Thankfully for all concerned, the journey proved more than worthwhile.
Trungelliti, a 28-year-old Argentinian, beat Bernard Tomic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to secure a place in the second round and guarantee himself prize money of 79,000 euros (about £39,000). For a journeyman professional who had earned only $34,945 (about £26,300) in the first five months of this year, it was a welcome reward for two chaotic days.
After losing in the final round of qualifying here last Thursday, Trungelliti had headed for Barcelona, where he is based. His younger brother Andre, his mother Susana and grandmother Daphne had flown there from Argentina to visit him.
The family were preparing to go to the beach on Sunday when Trungelliti discovered that he was next in line for a place in the main draw here as a “lucky loser” because Nick Kyrgios, who was due to play Tomic, had joined a long list of players withdrawing from the tournament before the first round.
“We needed grandma for sure,” Trungelliti said with a smile as he explained the decision to leave immediately for Paris. “My grandma was actually in the shower. I told her: ‘OK, we go to Paris.’
“There were many flights cancelled, so I didn’t trust them too much. Then there were no trains in France [because of strikes], so the best option was just to take the car.”
Trungelliti and his family set off in their small hire car at 1pm to drive the 1,000 kilometres to Paris, which took 10 hours, interspersed with regular breaks for coffee. Along the way they sent photographs and videos of their journey to his wife, which were posted on social media.
“In Argentina, if you’re not living in Buenos Aires, then 1,000 kilometres is nothing,” Trungelliti said. “You can drive for 1,000 kilometres and not come across one city, so it wasn’t a big deal for us. We got used to it and we went on the motorway. In Argentina we don’t have [dual carriageways]. You never know if you’re going to be alive after driving for two hours!”
After arriving in Paris at 11pm on Sunday evening Trungelliti slept for five hours before heading for Roland Garros. He arrived at 7.30am in good time for the “sign-in” for lucky losers and was confirmed as Kyrgios’ replacement.
Tomic, a former top 20 player who is currently ranked No 206 in the world, had won all three of his matches in qualifying last week, but was eventually outplayed by Trungelliti, who went into the warm-up having not picked up a racket for four days.
“I felt very well, and that was what was most important,” Trungelliti said. “I was really relaxed.”
Trungelliti, who also reached the second round here in 2016 and 2017 after playing in the qualifying tournament, said that his grandmother “has no idea what tennis is” and knew nothing about the scoring system.
“Actually she told me that she didn’t know that it was the end of the match until everybody was clapping,” he said. “She’s amazing. She’s turning 89 in one month.”
He said that she had been nervous during the match. “She believes in God very strongly, so she always puts candles to all the saints, and it’s very rare that she would be on the court,” he said. “I hope she’s OK. I wouldn’t want her to die of stress.”
Trungelliti will next play Italy’s Marco Cecchinato, who came back from two sets down to beat Marius Copil 2-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, 10-8.
A disgruntled Tomic was in a monosyllabic mood afterwards. He declined to say where he would be playing next and said only that he was “OK” when asked how he was physically. When asked if he was playing tennis primarily for financial reasons or whether he wanted to do something else, Tomic responded: “Next question.”
Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic, the champions here in 2015 and 2016 respectively, enjoyed contrasting fortunes. Wawrinka was beaten 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 by Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, while Djokovic beat Brazil’s Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Both former champions missed the last six months of 2017 because of injury, but while Djokovic’s fortunes have taken a turn for the better following shoulder surgery Wawrinka is still struggling to find his form again.
The 33-year-old Swiss, who had knee surgery last summer, struggled in the early stages of his comeback at the start of the year, took another three-month break and arrived here having won only one match in his two warm-up tournaments on clay.
Wawrinka took a medical time-out because of a knee problem in the first set against Garcia-Lopez, but insisted afterwards that it had nothing to do with the original injury and said he had been “completely fine” after treatment.
“My knee is good,” he said. “I knew from the beginning that it would take a long time to get back. I knew that from the surgery it would take a year at least to get back to where I want to be. It’s tough mentally because since the first day there has been no day off, no day when you don’t push yourself.
“That’s the most difficult part, but I think I’m on the right way. I’m playing well. The knee is keeping up and physically I start to be stronger every day. I need to keep pushing myself to get to where I want to be.
“I know exactly where I want to be. I won three Grand Slams in my career and I know what it takes to do it and my goal is to get back to my best. Sooner or later I will be.”
Djokovic dropped his serve in the opening game against Dutra Silva, but was soon in control. He said afterwards that he “didn’t feel that great” but added: “It was good for the first match. It was a good test.”
Dominic Thiem, the only player who has beaten Rafael Nadal on clay this year, eased into the second round with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 victory over the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka. Ernests Gulbis, who reached the semi-finals here four years ago but had to qualify last week after falling to No 160 in the world rankings, beat Gilles Muller, the No 29 seed, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
Play for the day ended at 8pm because of rain. Rafael Nadal was among those who would have to return the following day to complete their match. The defending champion was leading Simone Bolelli 6-4, 6-3, 0-3 when the players were called off the court.
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