Trungelliti stunned the tennis world in February 2019 when he revealed that he had reported a match-fixing group to the Tennis Integrity Unit after they approached him under the guise of being a sponsor. He also testified against three fellow Argentinian players who were already being investigated by the TIU.
But the 33-year-old was labelled a “snitch” by some of his peers and ended up relocating to Adorra with his family. Trungelliti did not play a tournament in his home country until this week, returning for the Buenos Aires Challenger. During his return, he received a personal message from Djokovic who thanked him for helping to expose corruption in tennis.
“Obviously I teared up a little,” Trungelliti told Ambito after the Serb’s hitting partner Carlos Gomes contacted him to relay the message. “Between the emotions I had on the court, that I had just left, and on top of that I got that message, it almost gave me a kick.”
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The world No 236 had already been full of praise for Djokovic and his work with the Professional Tennis Players Association. And Trungelliti doubled down on his comments about the 24-time Grand Sham champion.
He added: “I think it’s beautiful, coming from someone who is in the elite, busy with so many things but with his head where it should be. He has his feet on the ground, and he showed it.”
