After Nine-Hour Trip to Paris, 'Lucky Loser' Marco Trungelliti Advances to Second Round

Marco Trungelliti drove about nine hours from Barcelona to Paris when an eighth spot in the main draw opened. It turned out to be well worth it.

PARIS (AP) - The road trip was worth it for Marco Trungelliti, the ''lucky loser'' who drove for about 9 hours with his brother, mother and grandmother from Barcelona to Paris in order to get into the French Open - and then won his match.

Trungelliti, a 28-year-old Argentine ranked 190th, lost in qualifying at Roland Garros and then headed home to Spain.

But when an eighth spot in the main draw opened up because of an injury withdrawal, Trungelliti raced back to France. He faced Bernard Tomic in the first round on Monday and emerged with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory in a match that lasted nearly 3 hours.

This was only the third tour-level match of the year for Trungelliti and the 16th of his career. He is now 4-3 in Grand Slam action.