French Open: Marco Trungelliti takes mega-road trip with Omi Bernard Tomic

Marco Trungelliti has prepared himself mainly on the motorway for his first round match at the French Open. After the Italian had failed in qualifying, he was drawn by lots as Lucky Loser Bernard Tomic. At that time, however, he was already in Barcelona.

That is why Trungelliti packed his things on Sunday afternoon, stowed them in the car together with his mother and grandmother and set off for Paris, 1,035 kilometres away.

There he had to appear on Monday morning to register as a lucky loser in time. Due to his ranking position (number 190) he was sure to compete. The Indian Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who finished seven places ahead of the Italian, like many other players, had already travelled to the next tournament.

However, the 28-year-old did not allow himself to be held back by tiredness and beat Australian Tomic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 and 6-4, instead of training in Barcelona, he is now fighting for his first entry into the third round of a Grand Slam tournament on Wednesday.

Due to a new regulation in force from this season, the other half of the prize money goes to the player who withdrew in time. In this case, it was Nick Kyrgios who was rewarded for not getting into the court and giving another player a chance.

Trungelliti arrived in Paris on Sunday just before midnight, and after a few hours of sleep he was on the square at 11am with Bernard Tomic.

However, a big question mark still stands behind Juan Martin del Potro, who had to give up in Rome not quite two weeks ago injured. There could be more Lucky Losers on Tuesday in addition to the already fixed eight.