Mumbai, April 18 -- Tennis loves its breakthrough faces rising to overnight stardom, but here's a tale of perseverance through persistent grind and career, nay, life-challenging obstacles. Tennis loves narratives of two poster boys sharing a private jet to fly into a tournament, but here's a tale of a journeyman who once hopped in a rental car and drove over 1,000 kilometres to make it to a Grand Slam as a late replacement. Tennis loves its Alcaraz and Sinner, but here's a tale of Marco Trungelliti that is just as extraordinary. At 36, after spending half his career as one of thousands of pros slugging it out in the unrelenting lower rungs of tennis, Trungelliti became the oldest man that debuted in the Open Era (since 1969) to break into the top 100. He achieved this after featuring in the ATP 250 Marrakesh title clash as the oldest first-time tour-level finalist. That is just one part of the Trungelliti tale. The other involves years of battling depression after he became a rare whistleblower in the sport that exposed three of his compatriots in a match-fixing episode. It turned his life upside down instead, forcing the Argentine to leave home after receiving threats from within his country. That's a career criss-crossing promise, hope, struggle, threats, depression, belief and reward. "I can tell you, I went through every single thought - from the very positives to the very dark ones," Trungelliti said in an interview with HT. What he can't tell, however, is whether the top-100 leap at his age carries the overriding feeling of 'at long last' or 'long due'. "I guess a bit of both," he chuckled. "I don't have the feeling that it's surreal. Perhaps because it's something that I felt was closer than farther. Probably when I step back from the sport, I would realise it." It was indeed closer in 2016, when Trungelliti, ranked outside the top 150, beat the then world No.10 Marin Cilic in the French Open first round. This was when he was a regular on the Challenger circuit, seeking a push into the elite. This was also a year after a fixer, posing as a potential sponsor, approached him. Fixers and betting syndicates try to lure players on the lower levels whose incomes largely depend on their weekly performances. Trungelliti reported the approach to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), and agreed to provide information as a witness. Investigations stretched up to 2018, and led to bans on three Argentine players. Soon, the whistleblower felt isolated, more so by those in his country. In a 2023 interview with L'Equipe, Trungelliti recounted the father of one of the banned players threatening his wife during a tournament in Argentina. "Very afraid" for his family's safety and his own, he decided to move to Andorra. The entire phase affected his career, and left him "depressed". "Back then, it was extremely hard for me to go to any tournament. From the beginning of 2019 until 2021, it was a very dark time. I kept playing probably because it was the only thing I knew," said Trungelliti. "Also, when you're going through depression, I strongly believe that you have to keep moving your body and mind." Perhaps why Trungelliti drove 10 hours from Barcelona to Paris with his family, grandmother included, in a rental car to reach Roland Garros by midnight as a lucky loser replacement for Nick Kyrgios in 2018. Less than 12 hours later, he took the court and beat Bernard Tomic. Do moments like these feel more worth it now that he's the world No. 80, looking to "keep pushing" higher? "Not really," Trungelliti said. "I enjoyed that moment back then. It's part of my history." Part of his history is also getting close to knocking the top-100 door in 2016 and 2019, until breaking it in 2026. And reaching his only ATP tour semi-final in 2018, until the next in 2026. The gap may have been long, but the belief was never lost "I had so many thoughts during my career," Trungelliti said. "But I didn't want to leave the sport without knowing that I gave absolutely everything to make it possible. Then, I could live my life in peace."...