"I arrived at the hotel around 1 a.m, slept about five hours, warmed up for 45 minutes, and went out to play" - Marco Trungelliti reminisces memorable 2018 French Open story

Marco Trungelliti's life has turned around. A scintillating run to the final of the Grand Prix Hassan II saw him shoot up into the top 100 in the world. The benefits from this are gigantic, now able to make a return to Grand Slam tournaments while focusing his trade on the ATP Tour over the Challenger Tour. However, the task is now to remain there as he looks forward to hopefully a fruitful period for him.

The 36-year-old debuted in the top 100 after the conclusion of the tournament in Morocco. He became the oldest tennis player to achieve this feat for the first time. Currently ranked 77th in the world, Trungelliti's life has gone full circle. He is set to compete in the Madrid Open in his debut Masters 1000 main draw match. Coincidentally, he is playing Daniel Merida who defeated him in qualifying. Now in as a lucky loser, he will look for revenge against the Spaniard.

"Everything is going well over there, and here everything is as usual—just working out every single day," he said in an interview with the Tennis Channel. "My life has changed a little bit, but as soon as I wake up, I’m focused, because in a couple of months I could be back out of the top 100. So I’ve got to keep working and keep an eye on that.

With his position in the rankings not normally repaying the rewards intended, there were times in his tennis career that he sat down and re-considered whether it was the right career path to go down.

"Sometimes when I think about it, I have no idea why I kept playing, because at times it was too much," he explained. "Over almost 20 years, everything can happen. I was very close to quitting the game—at least three or four times."

He discussed the most recent one. "The last time was two years ago, after I lost in Dallas qualifying. I had a conversation with my wife—we’ve always been very honest with each other—and she told me she was tired of me being ranked around 230–240, just on the cutoff for slams. I told her, 'If I don’t reach at least 140 or 150 by the end of the year, I’m done.' So I was very close. But fortunately, I was able to do it. That’s one of the reasons I kept playing. I always try to get better every day, and I think that’s one of the reasons I broke into the top 100."

Trungelliti will be making a return to Grand Slam action for the first time since the Australian Open in 2022. Him now being in the top 104 means he has an automatic pathway into the tournament and will enjoy the rewards of competing in Paris whether he advances or not.

He has featured at Roland Garros three times before. The most recent one in 2018 was a fascinating story fulfilled with luck and fortune. "Back in Paris 2018, I lost in the final round of qualifying on Thursday and I had a back injury. So I decided not to go to the next tournament in Vicenza—I just went home to rest.

"On Sunday, we were heading to the beach when my coach called and said, “Listen, Mohamed Safwat just got in and is playing Dimitrov—you might be next.” I checked with the ATP, and they told me if someone else pulled out, I’d get in."

It was a hectic drive to the French capital with public transport not in service and just hours before his first round clash. "At that time, there were strikes in France—no planes, no trains—so the only option was to drive. My brother and I started driving. After a couple of hours, we stopped for coffee and found out that Kyrgios had withdrawn, and I’d be playing Bernard Tomic. I thought, 'Okay, even if I’m not physically ready, I have to be mentally ready.; I arrived at the hotel around 1 a.m, slept about five hours, warmed up for 45 minutes, and went out to play."

He would go on to win the match against Tomic in four sets. The media surrounded him after the match after the story was released by his wife. "I didn’t even realize how big the story was because I didn’t have social media," he said. "After the match, I had two hours of interviews and didn’t understand why—then my wife told me she had posted the story online, and that’s why it went crazy."

The whole trip took 12 hours including stops. It was an incredible story. Trungelliti has the chance now to return to the French Open and fight for more glory. It is the first time he has not needed to go through the qualifying process, a weird but welcoming feeling.

"It feels strange. I honestly thought I’d be going the week before for qualifying, because that’s what I’m used to," he stated. "My friends will be there, and I’ll arrive later when everyone’s already playing. But going there fresh, without having played qualifying, and having the chance to play five sets fully fresh—that would be amazing. It’s going to be the same at Wimbledon too."

The tournaments are coming thick and fast. He is also targeting direct entry into the other Grand Slam tournaments which, financially and ranking, would be huge for him. "It’s a big change for two or three months of my life. Then we’ll see. If I can keep my ranking high enough, I might also get into the US Open directly. But in tennis, it never stops—if you reach 70, you want 60, then points drop, and so on. We’ll see how it goes."

One thing pointed out about the Argentine was his grip which was different to what players usually have on a racket. He just has a leather grip with no overgrip on his racket.

While it looks uncomfortable, it does not hurt his hands. "No, not really. I’ve been doing that for the last 10 years. I first tried it when I was sparring in a Davis Cup tie against Great Britain with Argentina. I saw some players like Agustín Calleri using leather grips and thought, “Let’s give it a try.” It felt amazing, so I stuck with it."

There are challenges with the grip at times, but overall he is a fan of it. "I do struggle in winter when the leather gets cold—that’s very tough. And also when it rains, because I grip the racket mainly with my right hand, and the top part of the grip gets wet, making it hard to hold. But overall, in summer or indoors, I don’t really have issues."

For Trungelliti, the motivation to keep his ranking high is to not return to the Challenger and Future tournaments he had been playing in most of his career. "It’s not glamorous at all," he detailed. "Things have improved a little bit recently, but very slowly—and I probably won’t see the full changes myself.

"There are no nice hotels, no food provided—we have to pay for everything. Facilities are often not great. Sometimes there are no practice courts, sometimes no balls. Especially in Futures events, it can be really tough. The last Futures I played was in 2022, and it was a disaster. I don’t want to go back there. I feel sorry for the guys who have to play those tournaments. Things need to improve, otherwise it’s just terrible."

However, there are some positive memories of Challenger tournaments he has participated in. Most recently was when he made the trip to Rwanda to play in a couple of events. "Rwanda is actually a very safe country, and that’s one of the reasons I chose to go there," he said. "There’s also altitude, which I’m used to from playing in South America, especially in Colombia.

There were other motive to making the trip. "I’ve always wanted to visit Africa and get to know the continent. And for me, it’s important that a country has very good coffee—that makes me happy. Otherwise, it’s impossible for me to play well."

He reached the last-eight before going on to win the tournament in a successful first-time trip to Africa. "I loved it there. This year was my second time. The first time I made the final and won the tournament, and this time I made the quarterfinals and won again. So I’m definitely feeling great there. I didn’t have time to go on safari, but we visited the coffee industry. Those kinds of things make me happy—and that’s why I play well there."

While it was good, there is still the balance of looking after his family while travelling the world playing tennis. "Right now, it’s not going to change much, because this situation might only last two or three months if I don’t keep my ranking up. If that happens, everything changes again," he commented.

"I’ll bring them to Paris because it’s close. But for most tournaments, I’ll travel with my physio every week, and sometimes my coach. Right now, the most important thing is taking care of my body every day and pushing it beyond the limits I thought I had. We’ll see how it goes—it depends on my level, injuries, and many things. The only thing I know is that you have to invest in your career as much as you can. If it works, great. If not, you keep going."