Tennis: Bernard Tomic eliminated from French Open by late draw addition Trungellit in opening round
Mon May 28, 2018 02:30:pm Sports
4.8K By Obiaks Blog
Bernard Tomic has shot down suggestions he was only playing tennis for financial reasons in a sour aftermath to his first-round French Open exit in Paris.
Tomic's promising run from qualifying came to an end with a deflating four-set loss to Marco Trungelliti, an Argentine battler penning the feel-good story of the tournament.
Trungelliti snapped Tomic's career-best seven-match clay-court winning streak with a spirited 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4 victory that earned the world No.190 at least $90,000 - the biggest pay cheque of his career.
The South American had been the latest of late replacements for Nick Kyrgios, whose 11th-hour withdrawal with a chronic elbow injury denied fans a first-time grudge match between the Australian game's most polarising talents.
Trungelliti made an epic 10-hour family road trip from Barcelona to Paris on Sunday night to assume Kyrgios's place in the main draw after tournament officials ran out of "lucky losers" from qualifying to fill the void.
He returned from his Spanish base with his mother, grandmother and brother after losing to Pole Hubert Hurkacz in the final round of qualifying when alerted to his second chance.
After arriving back in the French capital just before midnight on the eve of his unexpected date with Tomic, the 28-year-old received generous applause from the crowd on Court 9, which included his mother, grandmother and a couple of excited mates.
Ironically, it was Trungelliti left waiting for several minutes for Tomic to appear.
The former Wimbledon quarter-finalist could have been excused for thinking he had received a walkover in the second round, with Trungelliti only revealed as his opponent 21 minutes before the match.
Tomic, though, refused to blame the late change of opponent as any excuse for his defeat - while also refusing to offer up much at all about his improved form, grass-court hopes or plans for the future.
The 25-year-old was certainly in no mood to answer questions about his "desire" to play tennis.
"Are you in this primarily for financial reasons or do you want to do other things?" he was asked by an American reporter.
"Next question," came the curt response.
Tomic said he planned to return to his Monte Carlo base, but declined to discuss his grass-court prospects ahead of Wimbledon starting in early July.
Winless since January until his unexpected revival on the European clay, Tomic can expect a projected rankings rise of 28 spots to No.178 in the world.
Trungelliti, meanwhile, can look forward to a second-round date with Italian Marco Cecchinato, who fought back from two sets down to deny Romanian Marius Copil 2-6 6-7 (7-4) 7-5 6-2 10-8.
ESPN
Tomic's promising run from qualifying came to an end with a deflating four-set loss to Marco Trungelliti, an Argentine battler penning the feel-good story of the tournament.
Trungelliti snapped Tomic's career-best seven-match clay-court winning streak with a spirited 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4 victory that earned the world No.190 at least $90,000 - the biggest pay cheque of his career.
The South American had been the latest of late replacements for Nick Kyrgios, whose 11th-hour withdrawal with a chronic elbow injury denied fans a first-time grudge match between the Australian game's most polarising talents.
Trungelliti made an epic 10-hour family road trip from Barcelona to Paris on Sunday night to assume Kyrgios's place in the main draw after tournament officials ran out of "lucky losers" from qualifying to fill the void.
He returned from his Spanish base with his mother, grandmother and brother after losing to Pole Hubert Hurkacz in the final round of qualifying when alerted to his second chance.
After arriving back in the French capital just before midnight on the eve of his unexpected date with Tomic, the 28-year-old received generous applause from the crowd on Court 9, which included his mother, grandmother and a couple of excited mates.
Ironically, it was Trungelliti left waiting for several minutes for Tomic to appear.
The former Wimbledon quarter-finalist could have been excused for thinking he had received a walkover in the second round, with Trungelliti only revealed as his opponent 21 minutes before the match.
Tomic, though, refused to blame the late change of opponent as any excuse for his defeat - while also refusing to offer up much at all about his improved form, grass-court hopes or plans for the future.
The 25-year-old was certainly in no mood to answer questions about his "desire" to play tennis.
"Are you in this primarily for financial reasons or do you want to do other things?" he was asked by an American reporter.
"Next question," came the curt response.
Tomic said he planned to return to his Monte Carlo base, but declined to discuss his grass-court prospects ahead of Wimbledon starting in early July.
Winless since January until his unexpected revival on the European clay, Tomic can expect a projected rankings rise of 28 spots to No.178 in the world.
Trungelliti, meanwhile, can look forward to a second-round date with Italian Marco Cecchinato, who fought back from two sets down to deny Romanian Marius Copil 2-6 6-7 (7-4) 7-5 6-2 10-8.
ESPN
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