Toulouse. Trungeliti, stronger than pain
The 179th in the world, passed by the Colomiers club in 2019 for the Interclubs, has had to deal since October with a stress fracture in his left foot.
“I’m not going to lie, it still hurts me. But as long as it doesn’t stop me from playing, I’ll keep going.” It has now been ten months since the Argentinian Marco Trungelliti (32 years old, 179th in the world, former 112th in 2019) has been watching his left foot closely. The reason ? A stress fracture that occurred in October. Precisely, his 2021 season on the pro circuit had ended at this period during the Challenger of Murcia (Spain) and a package in the 2nd round.
It was not until last January that the native player of Santiago del Estero was able to return to the path of competition with in particular the qualifications of the Australian Open. “I had won the three matches to reach the final draw in which I lost in the 1st round (in five rounds against the American Frances Tiafoe, editor’s note). Then, I had to wait until March to play a new tournament. Then, I waited until the beginning of April to return to the circuit by playing three events. Before returning at the end of May with this time the qualifications for Roland-Garros and an elimination in the 3rd round “, details the one who is passed by the US Colomiers in 2019 to compete for the Interclubs.
A 2:06 a.m. battle yesterday morning
Yesterday morning, in the 2nd round of these Toulouse Internationals, the seeded N.5 still spent time on the court (2h 06′ of play) with a new victory in three sets against the Russian Ivan Gakhov (310th; 6-3, 3-6, 6-3). All smiles at the end of the match, Marco, whose last singles title dates back to the end of September 2019 (Challenger from Florence, Italy) does not intend to stop there. “Just before this Toulouse tournament, I was in New York for the US Open qualifications where I lost my entry. As I have lived in Andorra for four years, it was logical, logistically. , to come here to the Stade Toulousain. Inevitably, between qualifying for a Grand Slam and a Challenger, the approach is not the same, what is more on two different surfaces. Admittedly, I am over thirty. But in my head, I still have the motivation to continue on the circuit”, explains the one who turned back the clay stadium yesterday afternoon for a quarter-final (lost) in doubles (alongside the Italian Lorenzo Giustino) .
A quarter-final against the German Louis Wessels
Today, for a place in the last four, the Argentinian will find on his way the German Louis Wessels (294th), again for a first confrontation. If successful, he will find, tomorrow, the winner of the duel Luca Van Assche (France, 289th, 18 years old)-Kimmer Coppejans (Belgium, 292nd).
What about his agenda? “After Toulouse, I will head for the Seville Challenger. Then I will take a little rest. Before continuing with two other Challengers, in principle in Portugal”, he specifies. Note that this season he has stumbled twice on the last step of a Challenger (in April in Madrid and August 21 in Santo Domingo). We wish him not to know the “never two without three”…