36-year-old Argentine Marco Trungelliti will become the oldest tennis player in 50 years to debut in the top 100 of the ATP world rankings.
Trungelliti will debut in the top 100 of the ATP rankings after the next update on Monday, April 6. The Argentine managed to get into this list thanks to a winning streak that has been going on since the beginning of March.
During this time, Trungelliti won the Challenger title in Rwanda. After that, the 36-year-old tennis player started in the qualification of the ATP 250 tournament in Marrakech and continued his winning streak with an entry into the main draw.
In Marrakech, the Argentine won three matches in a row, including defeating world number 32 Corentin Mouté from France in the quarterfinals, and is two wins away from the trophy.
Before the tournament in Morocco, Trungelliti was ranked 117th in the world. However, reaching the semifinals in real time has already brought him to 85th place and guaranteed the Argentine a place in the top 100 at the end of the week.
The tennis player will enter the top 100 for the first time at the age of 36 years and 65 days, making him the oldest top 100 debutant in 50 years. He surpassed the achievement of Daniel Muñoz de la Nava, who debuted in the top 100 in August 2015 (33 years, 214 days).
“My perseverance and our shared faith, including the faith of my entire team, played an important role. Thank you to my physiotherapist, fitness coach, wife, son and psychologist. We all believed that this was possible. When I look back and look at the tournaments I played, I thought I was going crazy, but now it has paid off. Getting into the top 100 is great, and it has paid off. But I think there is still a lot of work ahead,” said Trungelliti.
Since March 2024, when Trungelliti jumped from 208th to 180th place, he has remained consistently in the second hundred of the ATP rankings. After the next update of the standings, he will become the ninth racket of Argentina.
In total, the 36-year-old tennis player reached the semifinals of a major ATP tournament for the second time in his career. Trungelliti first achieved this in 2018, at the competition in Umag, Croatia, when he lost to third-seeded Italian Marco Cecchinato in a qualifier.
In the semifinals, Trungelliti will face top-seeded Italian Luciano Dardera on Saturday, April 4.