BENGALURU: Prior to May 28, hardly anybody would have recognised Marco Trungelliti. The Argentine was just another player trying to make it big on the Tour. But French Open 2018 changed that, at least for a little while. Marco was ousted from the qualifiers in the third round and headed for Barcelona. But there was late drama.
With Nick Kyrgios, there had been a total of eight pullouts and the time was for lucky losers to fill the spots. Sensing an opportunity to play in the main draw, the 28-year-old decided to leave for Paris. But with costly flight tickets and no trains available, Marco had to hit the roads — 1,000km of it in a rented car. The 10-hour drive defined his desire. The day after he reached, he ousted Bernard Tomic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in a three-hour battle to register his first win in a Major.
“We took the cab before we knew that I was going to play the day after. I had my grandma, my mama and my brother. It was a special trip,” Marco reminisced. A photograph of his journey appeared on social media and became a hit. He lost to Italian Marco Cecchinato in the second round and that journey ended only to begin another.
“I had a lot of interviews in Paris. After that loss, it was the same again. The Tour is like that. You go somewhere else and play and nobody knows.”
At Bengaluru Open Challenger as the second seed, he was one of the favourites. But his trip ended in disappointment on Tuesday as he was ousted in the first round of doubles (partnering Aleksandr Nedovyesov). On Monday, he had lost in singles. But his journey continues.
“The aim was to get into top 100. But now even if I win one, I don’t make it. However, it was a good year. I started around 250 and I’m now 123rd.”
Round 1
(Indians unless specified)
Youssef Hossam (Q, EGY) bt Radu Albot (1, MDA) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2; Saketh Myneni (WC) bt Adil Kalyanpur (WC) 6-3, 7-6(3); Blaz Kavcic (SLO) bt Filip Peliwo (8, CAN) 6-2, 6-0; Sasi Kumar Mukund (Q) bt C Altamirano (USA) 7-6 (6), 6-3; S Fanselow (Q, GER) bt Zzombor Piros (Q, HUN) 7-6 (3), 6-4; Prajnesh Gunneswaran (4, IND) bt I Nedelko (RUS) 6-2, 6-2; Q Halys (6, FRA) bt Suraj Prabodh (WC, IND) 6-3, 6-1; B Schnur (CAN) bt Max Purcell (AUS) 6-4, 7-6 (3); Z Bergs bt Andrej Martin (LL, SVK) 6-1, 6-2; Frederico Ferreira Silva (POR) bt Danilo Petrovic (SRB) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
krishnendu@newindianexpress.com