French Open Star Opens Up on Leaving Home Country After Match-Fixing Scandal: ‘People Don’t Like Me’

It was 11 years ago in 2015 that Marco Trungelliti‘s life turned upside down due to a scandal. Having been offered a bribe $50,000 by match-fixers, the Argentine decided to report them to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU). The investigation exposed an organized network of fixing in tennis and led to the suspension of several players. However, the TIU failed to protect Trungelliti’s identity as the whistleblower.

It didn’t take long for people to discover Trungelliti’s role in the investigation. Soon after, he found himself ostracized within Argentina’s tennis community and was branded a “snitch” by many. The backlash became so severe that both he and his family reportedly received death threats.

Fearing for their safety, Trungelliti first relocated to Spain before eventually settling permanently in Andorra, where his family continues to live today. The Argentine has now admitted that he still has no intention of returning home, while also criticizing the system for failing to provide adequate protection after he cooperated with the investigation.

“It hurt me a lot at the time. I was also naive because I expected the system to help me a little, and it was the exact opposite. The whole set of institutions was never there. We’re still looking for answers, still looking for the system to provide more support to players.

“I’m sure a lot of people don’t like me, but compared to what I thought 10 years ago, now I don’t care. I have a good relationship with the people who come up and say ‘hi, how are you,’ and that’s it. Because in the end, relationships in tennis are more about that than anything else. You’re not going to become friends with someone you might have to face the next day,” he told reporters in Paris.

Trungelliti described his life in Andorra as “wonderful”, adding that there is no reason to move back to Argentina as the country is not going through the best of times at the moment.

“I didn’t choose to return. I’m not going back to live there. Andorra, where I’ve been living the last 10 years, is wonderful. We feel very safe there. The quality of life is spectacular. Argentina right now is going through a tough time,” he added.

The 36-year-old also clarified that he knows a lot of good people in Argentina but doesn’t want to return to the country because the wrong people overpower the others.

“Ten years ago, I was afraid to return, and for a while I couldn’t do it because I was so scared. I don’t want to box myself into ‘No, I’ll never return,’ because everyone there is human, and there are a lot of good people in Argentina. But in the end, the ‘wrong’ people made more noise than the good ones,” he stated.

Ever since moving to Andorra, Trungelliti has barely played in Argentina and hasn’t been received well by the crowd on most of his appearances in the country. Last season, the veteran featured at the Buenos Aires Open for the first time in six years.

However, Trungelliti didn’t quite enjoy playing in his home country and remarked that he wasn’t prepared to face the public. It is unclear if he will play more matches in Argentina anytime soon.

“I played in Buenos Aires a while back, but when I returned it was tough, because it was also the last tournament I played before everything went public, and I couldn’t handle the feelings—it was too much for me back then. I thought I was prepared, but I wasn’t, so maybe next year, or maybe I’ll never be prepared to return and play,” he further said.

The Argentine is currently in Paris where he has made it to the second round of the French Open. He racked up a remarkable 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Kyrian Jacquet in the opening round and is now set to take on Karen Khachanov in the next match. Having never made it past the second round in his previous 12 appearances at the Grand Slam, the 36-year-old will be aiming to finally end the wait this time around.

Even though Trungelliti had exposed a match-fixing syndicate and had directed the attention of many fans towards the dark side of tennis, the authorities have failed to stop it in its entirety. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has already handed suspensions to multiple players this year over match-fixing.

Match-fixing continues to be a major problem in tennis

It was earlier in February that the ITIA had confirmed a major sanction against Argentina’s Leonardo Aboian. He admitted to fixing eight of his own singles and doubles matches. These matches took place at ITF World Tennis Tour and ATP Challenger events between 2018 and 2025.

As a result, Aboian was suspended for six years and nine months and also fined $40,000, with $25,000 of that amount suspended. He admitted to 30 breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) and also accepted all the charges brought by the ITIA. The charges included facilitating wagering and contriving match outcomes.

Following this, another fixing scandal gripped the tennis world in March. The ITIA handed a suspension of three years and nine months to Russia’s Alana Tuayeva for fixing two of her matches at the ITF World Tennis Tour level during 2023 and 2024.

She was also fined $9,000 for the offense and a $21,000 fine on the condition that she does not commit another offense. The player admitted to all the charges against her and will now be serving a ban that will go on till September 18, 2029, provided that she pays the required fine.

During this period, Tuayeva will not be able to play, attend, or coach any event sanctioned or authorized by the ITIA, including ATP, WTA, ITF tournaments, and all four Grand Slams as well.

With multiple major match-fixing scandals having already been reported this year, it doesn’t look like this problem is going to end anytime soon. It really begs the question as to what the authorities need to do in order to reduce these corrupt incidents.

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