First entry into TOP100 at age 36, even ordinary players have legendary stories!

In tennis, 36 years old typically marks the late stage of a professional career, yet for Trungelliti, it turned into the perfect time to make history. During this week's ongoing ATP250 Marrakech tournament, this Argentine athlete is composing one of the season's most remarkable stories.

A late breakthrough: Setting records as the oldest first-time entry into TOP100 and ATP Tour final

Trungelliti entered the main draw as a qualifier in Marrakech, defeating Rocha, fifth seed Mehdžak, third seed Mutai, and top seed Darderi successively to advance to the final. With this achievement, his ATP live ranking soared 41 places to No. 76, and next week he will officially become the oldest player in the Open Era (since 1969) to break into the world's top 100 for the first time and reach an ATP Tour final for the first time.

“Entering the top 100 has basically been a major goal throughout my career,” Trungelliti said. “I feel that over the past two years, I’ve been getting closer to this goal both in level and mentally. Physically, I’m better than ever, feeling fantastic.”

This milestone arrived belatedly. Trungelliti first played an ATP Tour qualifying event in 2009 at Buenos Aires, entered the main draw for the first time in 2012 at Umag, and broke into the top 200 that same year. He previously reached a career-high No. 112 in 2019, and now finally crossed that threshold.

“My resilience and the belief our entire team had were very important,” Trungelliti stated. “Thanks to my physiotherapist, coach, fitness trainer, wife, son, and psychologist. We all believed it was possible. When I look back at the matches I played, I think I was crazy back then, but now it all paid off.”

Trungelliti

A bizarre journey at Roland Garros: The 2018 “lucky loser” legend

Trungelliti’s tennis career has never lacked drama. The 2018 French Open is one such memorable chapter.

At that time, Trungelliti, ranked No. 190, fell in the final round of Roland Garros qualifying. He left Paris with €21,000 in qualifying prize money to join his family in Barcelona. His brother, mother, and grandmother had traveled from Argentina to Spain, originally planning to watch his matches in Paris, but after his qualifying exit, they changed plans and stayed in Barcelona.

However, the story took a twist. Due to an unusual wave of withdrawals, Roland Garros ran short of alternates. Trungelliti decided to return to Paris to compete, bringing his family along.

“Flights were often canceled, and train tickets were unavailable at that time, so we decided, why not drive to Paris together?” The characteristic Argentine optimism shone through this remark, as he described the 10-hour drive as remarkably easy.

On Court 9, after a grueling 2-hour 54-minute battle against Australian star Tomic, he emerged victorious with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 scoreline, reaching the Roland Garros main draw second round for the third consecutive year in his career. That day, fortune favored this never-give-up Argentine.

A solitary struggle: Fighting against match-fixing schemes

Yet, Trungelliti’s career has always been overshadowed by a dark cloud—his ongoing battle against match-fixing, which even forced him to leave his homeland permanently.

In 2018, his tennis career was surrounded by match-fixing threats. He courageously confronted the prevalent match-fixing in lower-level tennis events, reporting these offers to the International Tennis Integrity Agency. Due to his involvement, players like Patricio Heras, Federico Coria, and Nicolás Kicker received lengthy bans, and he was labeled a “snitch” and “traitor” within the player community.

“Players fix matches in Futures to earn money; few get caught because nobody cares, and they can continue playing,” he stated bluntly. “It’s the same in Challengers—there are always match-fixing cases. Too many players are involved… I believe at least one match per day across the tour is manipulated; you just need to watch some Futures events to see crazy things. Some tournament supervisors know but can’t do anything; no one really cracks down on match-fixing, and if you try, my experience is what you’ll face.”

More heartbreakingly, to protect his family from threats and violence, he had to leave his native Argentina with them. “The last match I played in Argentina was in 2019 in Buenos Aires,” he recalled. “Before that, in Cordoba, we had a conflict with Federico Coria’s family, and because of them, we decided to leave. His father threatened my wife, right at the tournament venue. For me, that was unacceptable.”

“If we still lived in Argentina, honestly, we would be very afraid,” he said. “We had to decide: either leave or risk being killed. It might sound exaggerated, but it could happen.”

From a Roland Garros lucky loser to a 36-year-old top-100 newcomer, from a match-fixing whistleblower to a forced exile, Trungelliti’s tennis journey is full of twists, but as he said: “I think I still have more to achieve.” This Argentine fighter’s story is far from over.

（Text, editing / Wang Fei, photo / Visual China）