Madrid Open racism storm erupts as star refuses to play and sits down on court | Tennis | Sport

Argentine tennis star Marco Trungelliti has accused fans at the Madrid Open of being “racist” during his first-round defeat to Spanish qualifier Daniel Merida on Thursday evening. Trungelliti lost to Merida in the final round of qualifying earlier in the week but got into the main draw as a lucky loser, only to come up against the 21-year-old yet again.

There were wild scenes on Stadium 3 as the Spanish fans tried to push their man on. Some crossed the line, calling out and screaming while Trungelliti was trying to serve. And the world No. 77 became so fed up that, while serving to stay in the match at 4-5 in the final set, he sat on his bench and refused to play.

The Argentine won the first point to go 15-0 up, but the crowd continued to distract him, and he sat at the side of the court. “Call the supervisor,” Trungelliti told chair umpire Alex Robein as virtually everyone in the stands started booing loudly.

“I’m not playing like this. As I was hitting the ball, the guy was shouting. There is no chance to make me play like this, because it’s getting worse and worse and worse.” The umpire offered to call security, and Merida soon joined them at the net, but the crowd were so loud, their conversation couldn’t be heard.

The supervisor was eventually called, and Trungelliti went to speak to him at the side of the net. A security guard also arrived, and the situation de-escalated. The world No. 77 finally headed to his towel box and stared down some fans. The lucky loser had already confronted some hecklers during the match.

Merida went on to claim a dramatic 6-4 1-6 7-6(6) victory, and Trungelliti left the court without waving goodbye to the crowd. But the world No. 77 has since taken to Instagram to accuse the fans of racism during the match.

“To finish last night’s topic: Was it a joke? Yes. Was there racism? Yes. Disrespect from the first moment? Yes. Was there anything done about it during the encounter? Not much. Do I care? Nope,” he wrote in Spanish.

Merida, meanwhile, will break into the world’s top 100 for the very first time after coming through qualifying to reach the second round of the Madrid Open. The 21-year-old later told Punto de Break that it was “super special” to have the crowd support, but admitted things got out of hand in one instance.

“The whole crowd was cheering, so I’m very, very happy and incredibly grateful to everyone who was there supporting me today. At first, I was a little tense and nervous because of all the people there, but I think it helped me right up to the last point. I think it was also because of them that I finally believed in myself and was able to turn things around,” the qualifier said.

“We experienced a unique atmosphere, tennis matches aren’t usually so intense. There was a moment when play stopped because someone in the audience said something to him, he responded, and things got a little heated. I didn’t hear what they said, but it’s true that things got a bit out of hand.”

Tournament organisers have yet to respond to Trungelliti’s claims. Express Sport has reached out to the Madrid Open for comment.

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