During his first-round match at the 2026 Madrid Open, Marco Trungelliti had a confrontation with Spanish fans in attendance. He was competing against Spaniard Daniel Mérida, who enjoyed strong crowd support, leading to constant shouting and heckling directed at Trungelliti.
Marco Trungelliti Makes ‘Racism’ Accusation After Madrid Open Outrage Against Fans
Trungelliti’s run at the Madrid Open began in the qualifiers, where he defeated Borna Gojo with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-3 in the first qualifying round. However, he lost in the second qualifying round to Mérida, with a score of 6-7(4), 3-6. Then, a withdrawal by Raphaël Collignon from the ATP Masters 1000 tournament allowed the Argentine to enter the main draw as a lucky loser.
The first round of the main draw turned out to be a repeat of the second qualifying round, as Trungelliti faced off against Mérida, losing the first set 4-6. He then staged a comeback to win the second set 6-1. Nevertheless, Mérida maintained his composure and claimed the final set, winning the match with a scoreline of 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(6), saving two match points in the process.
The match had its fair share of drama. The Spanish fans packed the stadium, enthusiastically cheering for Mérida. The relentless support and the constant shouting for the local player frustrated Trungelliti. He paused the game for a while to voice his concerns to the chair umpire and even exchanged a few words with the spectators. Eventually, security intervened and removed the most disruptive hecklers from their seats.
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 After the match, while speaking to the press, Trungelliti labeled the behavior of the Spanish crowd as “shameful.”
“The attitude of part of the Madrid crowd has been shameful,” Trungelliti said (translated from Spanish).
On his Instagram stories, he made some serious accusations. “To finish last night’s topic: was it a joke? Yes. Was there racism? Yes. Disrespect from the first moment? Yes. Was anything done about it during the encounter? Not much. Do I care? Nope.”
Following his first-round win, Mérida took to social media and expressed his gratitude for the “brutal support” from the Spanish crowd.
“Brutal support always, thanks so much! Let’s keep it going!!” Mérida posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) [translated from Spanish].
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Looking ahead, Mérida is set to face 26th seed Corentin Moutet in the second round of the 2026 Madrid Open. This match will be the first encounter between the two players on the ATP Tour. The winner will advance to the third round, where they will face either the eighth seed, Alexander Bublik, or Stefanos Tsitsipas.
