If anybody deserves to be in the main draw of a grand slam tournament, it is Marco Trungelliti after his 500-mile cross-country car journey on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Argentine left Paris after losing in the third round of qualifying to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz. He returned to his base in Barcelona, Spain to see his wife and family. It appeared that it would be unthinkable that he would be able to play in the main draw at Roland Garros, until yesterday.
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios pulled out of the tournament as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury. The withdrawal opened up a space for a lucky loser. Prior to Kyrgios, seven lucky losers had already entered into the main draw, including an historic appearance by Mohamed Safwat. Initially India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran was in line to take Kyrgios’ spot, but he had already left to play in another tournament in Italy. Leaving the French Open with no more lucky losers left to put their name down.
Upon hearing about the situation, world No.190 Trungelliti seized upon the opportunity. Travelling for eight hours in his car from Barcelona to Paris. Accompanying him was brother Andre, mother Susi and grandmother Lela – and his tennis gear. Arriving in the French capital at 23:50 last night.
80 Km para Paris. Trunge is coming y te lo mostramos el Km a km. Suenan los Abuelos de la Nada. pic.twitter.com/0tKyRjY0Sb
— FueBuena (@FueBuena) 27 May 2018
23.50 en Paris. Marco Trungelliti ya está listo para descansar y en un par de horas ir al club para jugar el cuadro principal de Roland Garros. Continuará. pic.twitter.com/yYeZPkCuaI
— FueBuena (@FueBuena) 27 May 2018
As a lucky loser, the Argentine will get half of the first round prize money due to a new rule implemented at the start of this year. The other half will go to Kyrgios. First round entrants at this year’s tournament received 40,000 euros, which is a 14.3% increase on last year. According to his ATP profile, 20,000 euros from Roland Garros equates to more than half of what Trungelliti has earned so far this year on the tour.
Unfortunately for Trungelliti, who will play in the main draw of a grand slam for only the fourth time in his career, he will not have much time to rest. Organisers have scheduled him to play Bernard Tomic at 11am (GMT+1) this morning. 11 hours after he first arrived in Paris.
Trungelliti has been ranked as high as 126th in the world back in 2016. Earlier this year he defeated Italy’s Simone Bolelli to win his first Challenger title in Barletta, Italy. It will be the first time he has played former world No.17 Tomic.
