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
But instead, the 29-year-old says doing the right thing cost him dearly. Ranked No. 139, he's 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 Trungelliti's honesty has been rejection by other players and stress that hurt his health and his game.
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: He'd been a key witness in a match-fixing probe that snared three fellow Argentines, testifying even though he knew that, back in Argentina, he'd likely face a backlash for doing so.
Behind the scenes, Trungelliti has repeatedly contacted the unit, asking without success for it to defend him. "It's not just the players' problem," he says."There are a lot of coaches involved. A lot. A lot. More than we think." Trungelliti says he felt compelled to come forward when he was approached in July 2015 by a fixer who posed as a potential sponsor and was introduced via his coach. He wrote to the TIU, saying the fixer"asked me to keep quiet."
The fixer was particularly"proud" of a Challenger match fixed in Italy with Kicker, Trungelliti told the TIU. Kicker lost 6-1, 6-2 in 63 minutes to South Korea's Duckhee Lee, then ranked 74 spots below Kicker, at No. 278.Heras, whose career-best ranking was No. 269 in 2013, also is banned for three years, .
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