ORDINO, Andorra (AP) As a brave whistleblower, Marco Trungelliti should be feeling good about himself. The Argentine player exposed match-fixing crooks in tennis, helped the fight against the criminal gambling syndicates that are corroding his sport from within and testified about dishonest fellow professionals who, in part thanks to his evidence, are now banned.
But instead, the 29-year-old says doing the right thing cost him dearly. Ranked No. 139, hes one of the few players so established in the sport willing to speak frankly about the fixers who pay athletes to lose so they can profit from bets on the crooked results. The price of Trungellitis honesty has been rejection by other players and stress that hurt his health and his game.
Compounding his unhappiness, Trungelliti also feels hes been left out to dry by tennis administrators and their anti-corruption investigators. Having pumped him for evidence, he says they failed to publicly defend him against those in tennis who muddied his name, questioned his motives for giving evidence and labeled him a rat.
They just used me, he says. They just dropped me in the middle of the sea.
It was a disaster, disaster. In my opinion, it was one of the worst procedures that I have ever seen, he adds. Im still paying the price.
Trungelliti caused a sensation at the French Open last year when he, his younger brother, mother and 88-year-old grandmother squeezed into a rental car and dashed 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from Spain to Roland Garros so he could fill a lucky loser spot at the Grand Slam tournament that opened at the last minute when injured players withdrew.
What few knew at the time was that behind his easy smile, thick curls and feel-good 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 first-round victory against Australian Bernard Tomic, Trungelliti was shouldering a weighty secret: Hed been a key witness in a match-fixing probe that snared three fellow Argentines, testifying even though he knew that, back in Argentina, hed likely face a backlash for doing so.
Best-known of the three was Nicolas Kicker, at No. 84, the highest-ranked player convicted so far of fixing matches. The Tennis Integrity Unit, the sports anti-corruption body with 17 full-time staffers, an annual budget of nearly $5 million and veteran ex-police investigators, announced Kickers guilt just three days before the French Open, where he had been preparing to play. Neither the TIU nor Trungelliti gave even the slightest hint at the time of the role hed played.
In the aftermath, however, Trungelliti noticed player attitudes changing toward him. Even some he regarded as friends asked why he didnt keep his mouth shut.
No one was saying Hi any more. No one was looking at me, he says. Its sad.
Contacted by The Associated Press, the TIU said it couldnt comment because of its long-standing confidentiality policy with regard to disciplinary hearings and witness evidence.
Behind the scenes, Trungelliti has repeatedly contacted the unit, asking without success for it to defend him.
Due to my participation in the trial, I receive all kinds of insults from players to managers, he emailed the TIU last August. They are trying soil my honor.
Trungellitis wife, Nadir, says there were times when the stress reduced him to tears. When he was playing, he just wanted to be home. He smashed rackets. A back injury flared again.
But hes not shutting up.
