10-hour dash to victory
Eliminated from French Open qualifying last week, Marco Trungelliti headed home to Barcelona and was preparing to spend time at the beach with his 88-year-old grandmother, mother and younger brother, who all happened to be visiting from Argentina.
Then came word that the 190th-ranked Trungelliti could get into the main draw at Roland Garros as the eighth ‘lucky loser’ replacing someone who withdrew with an injury from the grand slam tournament – but only if he returned to France in time for yesterday’s sign-in deadline.
‘‘Actually, my grandma was in the shower,’’ Trungelliti recounted, ‘‘and I told her, ‘OK, we go to Paris’.’’
So they quickly threw some clothes in suitcases – Trungelliti’s was still packed – and hopped in his relatives’ rental car for the roughly 10-hour, 1000km drive north. The road trip was well worth it. Not only did Trungelliti get his spot in the field, but he won, beating Bernard Tomic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round and guarantee himself a payday of at least €79,000 (NZ$132,000).
‘‘I tried to treat it like a normal situation, a normal match,’’ Trungelliti said.
Ah, but there was nothing normal about his story.
‘‘It’s kind of, like, the talk’’ of the tournament, said 13th-seeded American Madison Keys.
After all, who wouldn’t appreciate someone seizing this sort of chance in this manner?
‘‘To play in the main draw in a grand slam ... you don’t drive,’’ said Ernests Gulbis, a 2014 French Open semifinalist who qualified this year, ‘‘you crawl’’.
Trungelliti, a 28-year-old Argentine, lost in the second round of qualifying on Thursday, stuck around Paris until Friday, then travelled to Spain, where he and his wife live. On Monday, his coach pointed out that 21st-seeded Nick Kyrgios pulled out of the French Open, creating a new spot. Another player who otherwise would have been ahead of Trungelliti on the ‘lucky loser’ list was entered already in a lower-tier event in Italy, so Trungelliti would be the first alternate, provided he arrived in time.
It took five minutes to decide it was worth a try.
The problem: Some BarcelonaParis flights were cancelled, plus trains in France have been operating haphazardly recently because of strikes.
‘‘The best option,’’ Trungelliti said, ‘‘was just (to) take the car.’’
The voyage was not a big deal, he explained, because lengthy car trips are the norm in Argentina.
Once he got on Court 9 yesterday, he felt at ease. No pressure at all. Wearing lengthy black shorts and a plain white T-shirt, his curly brown hair spilling out of his black hat, Trungelliti seemed to find troves of energy for only his third tour-level match of 2018 and 16th of his career.
And he enjoyed a star turn afterward, laughing his way through a packed news conference.
Next up for Trungelliti is 72ndranked Marco Cecchinato, of Italy.
Meanwhile, like Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka is a past French Open champion still working his way back into form after surgery.
Like Djokovic, Wawrinka is ranked lower than he has been in more than a decade. And like Djokovic, Wawrinka recently reunited with a coach who helped guide him to success earlier in his career.
Both men were in first-round action yesterday, but unlike Djokovic, who won in straight sets, Wawrinka could not summon and sustain the sort of highlevel play that has carried him to major titles in Paris and elsewhere. Returning to a place where he won the title in 2015 and made it back to the final a year ago, Wawrinka bowed out with a 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 loss to 67thranked Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.
The third past men’s champion in action yesterday, No 1seeded Rafael Nadal, did not complete his match against 129thranked Simone Bolelli, of Italy, which was suspended along with several others because of rain in the evening.
Nadal grabbed the first two sets 6-4, 6-3, but was trailing 3-0 in the third when action was halted.