Roland Garros: Drive from Barcelona pays off for Trungelliti
David Martin AFP
May 28, 2018
World number 190 Marco Trungelliti has upset Bernard Tomic, defeating the Australian in four sets. The Argentine "lucky loser" took to the court just 11 hours after driving up to Roland Garros from his Barcelona home.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Tarantino
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Argentine tennis player Marco Trungelliti had already returned to his base in Barcelona after losing in last week's French Open qualifying rounds in the French capital, Paris.
However, a series of withdrawals presented him with a possible window to re-enter the tournament.
Nick Kyrgios was initially set to play fellow Australian Bernard Tomic in Monday's opening round at Roland Garros, but was forced to pull out with an elbow injury the evening before.
Egypt's Mohamed Safwat was the seventh lucky loser, but he had already gone down in straight sets to Grigor Dimitrov, while the next-in-line, Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India, had already returned to Italy for a Challenger Tour event.
With no qualifying losers left in Paris to play, Trungelliti took a chance and embarked on a marathon road trip back to Paris with his mother, grandmother and brother.
Trungelliti explained: "My coach told me, 'Take a look, Safwat, the Egyptian who played yesterday, he's playing right now, so maybe take a look. Ask if you are going to get in or whatever.'"
"So I ask, and then somebody told me that it was the first alternate," he added. "My grandma was in the shower and I told her, 'okay, we go to Paris.'"
Victory in four sets
Arriving in Paris just before midnight on Sunday, the Argentine world number 190 was told by the Ronald Garros organizers that he had done enough to secure a spot in the first knock-out round against the former world number 17, Bernard Tomic.
Eleven hours later, Trungelliti took to the court and showed no signs of fatigue as he beat Tomic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
After the match, Trungelliti was quick to dismiss any suggestions that the nine-hour drive could have had an impact on his game. "For us, I mean, in Argentina, if you're not living in Buenos Aires, then 1,000km is like nothing," he said. "You make 1,000 km and there is no city between. So it wasn't a big deal for us."
Trungelliti will now face world number 72 Marco Cecchinato of Italy in the second round.
The Argentine will also benefit from a new rule change for defeated qualifiers at the French Open. Now, if a player withdraws with injury before their scheduled first-round match, they still receive half the prize money while the lucky loser takes the other half. It means that Trungelliti's trip to France had already made him an extra €58,000 ($67,000) in prize money/
The greatest sporting battles of all time
Chess' exciting battle between Magnus Carlsen and Sergej Karjakin is just the latest in a long list of great sporting duels. From unforgettable boxing fights to never-ending tennis matches, here is DW's top 10.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Battle of the board
Magnus Carlsen (right) is a genius. The Norwegian is one of the best chess players of all time, but Russian Sergey Karjakin nearly defeated him at the 2016 World Championship. "It was the hardest World Championship for me so far," said Carlsen. The victory came first in the tie-breaker, where the champion held his nerve to claim a 3-1 win in a match that gave chess unprecedented coverage.
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The longest minute
90,000 watched on in the Camp Nou in Barcelona and a billion joined them on TV to watch one of football's greatest ever games in the 1999 Champions League final. Bayern Munich led 1-0 against Manchester United heading into injury time. Then came a corner, Teddy Sheringham made it 1-1. Another corner, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (pictured center) made it 2-1 - and broke Bavarian hearts.
Image: Imago
The greatest Wimbledon comeback
This match swept everyone off their feet. The 2008 Wimbledon final is one of the greatest sporting battles ever, let alone one of the greatest tennis matches. Rafael Nadal (photo) was two sets down against grass specialist Roger Federer. The Spaniard then battled back and after seemingly endless rallies, Nadal overcame the Swiss 6:4, 6:4, 6:7, 6:7, 9:7 in just under five hours of tennis.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
The drive to win
Whoever wants success has to want it more than the next competitor. The battle between Michael Schumacher (right) and Damon Hill in Formula One was the perfect example of just that. In the final Grand Prix in Adelaide in 1994, the German closed the door. Both collided and were out of the race. Hill scolded and the headlines read "Cheating Schumi", but Schumacher was champion by one point.
Image: picture-alliance/ASA
A dive in vain
The 400 meter final is a battle between eight, but at the 1960 Olympics in Rome it came down to just two. West Germany's Carl Kaufmann (on the floor above) launched an incredible comeback against US sprinter Otis Davis. With Davis comfortably ahead, Kaufmann battled back in the rain before diving over the line. In the end, it was in vain. The photo finish showed Davis a fraction ahead.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The "Thrilla in Manilla"
Two sporting heroes on a level playing field who couldn't stand one another made for one of the greatest sporting battles. Muhammad Ali (left) fought Joe Frazier in 1975 in Manilla for the third time. Their head-to-head record was 1-1 and the third fight was just as exciting. A thrilling, brutal fight demanded everything of both fighters and in the end, Ali claimed victory.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The miracle on ice
In 1980, the Cold War was perhaps at its frostiest. In the midst of political tension and military threat, the US and Soviet Union faced off on the ice of Lake Placid at the Winter Olympics. The Soviet team had won six of the previous seven gold medals, but astoundingly the college amateurs from the US upset the odds and won 4-3, making history in the process.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Wieseler
The mental game of tennis
Great tennis matches don't just happen in finals. The Davis Cup relegation match between Boris Becker (right) and John McEnroe was part of tennis history. On a fateful afternoon in July 1987, McEnroe argued and discussed, while Becker answered with coolness and arrogance. It was a game for the stronger mind. Becker won after a breathtaking six hours and 39 minutes, 4:6, 15:13, 8:10, 6:2, 6:2.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Probst
Friend or foe?
Like this season's battle between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, the 1989 Formula One Championship was a fight between teammates. In the penultimate Grand Prix in Suzuka, McLaren's Alain Prost (right) and Ayrton Senna's fight was on a knife-edge. The two collided, Prost was out of the race and Senna won, but was later disqualified. While the Brazilian raged, Prost later celebrated the title.
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Neck and neck on the Champs-Élysées
The Tour de France has never been closer than it was in 1989. Frenchman Laurent Fignon (right), who has sadly since passed, was wearing the yellow jersey on the road to Paris but US rider Greg LeMond stole the yellow off him on the final time trial. After 3,285 kilometers it came down to eight seconds.
