It’s almost 11 p.m. on Monday, June 5. In the darkness of the Suzanne-Lenglen court, after a final forehand too long from his opponent, Tomas Martin Etcheverry drops his racquet, kneels on the clay and takes his head in his hands. His team explodes with joy.
By beating the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka (33ᵉ) quite easily (7-6[8]6-0, 6-1), the Argentinian has not just won Roland-Garros, but it’s just like. ” It’s the most beautiful day of my life “exclaims the 49th player in the world after qualifying for the quarter-finals of the French Open, where he challenges Alexander Zverev (27ᵉ), Wednesday, June 7.
A surprise guest at this stage of the competition, the 23-year-old right-hander is the only one of the eight players still in contention not to be seeded. If he benefited from a favorable part of the table, in which Daniil Medvedev (2ᵉ) and Jannik Sinner (8ᵉ) were eliminated early, his career is far from being a misunderstanding.
No set lost in four games
After taking advantage of the abandonment of Jack Draper (55ᵉ) in the first round (6-4, 1-0 ab.), he then easily disposed of Alex de Minaur, 19ᵉ world (6-3, 7-6[2]6-3), Borna Coric, 16th in the world (6-3, 7-6[5], 6-2) and, therefore, of Yoshihito Nishioka, without conceding a single set. The only other player not to have lost one in his first four games? Novak Djokovic.
The Serb is none other than his idol. “He’s the main reason I started playing tennis. When I went to [l’équipementier] Head, I immediately said I wanted his racquets”relates the Argentinian, who had the opportunity to face him this year (6-7 defeat[5]2-6 at the Masters 1000 in Rome), at the Roland-Garros site.
Born on July 18, 1999, Tomas Martin Etcheverry grew up on the coast, in La Plata, southeast of Buenos Aires. In 2004, her grandfather gave her a pack of speedball – a popular racquet sport in Argentina that involves hitting a ball tied to a mast with nylon string – for her family beach vacation. This gift will change his fate. He tells : “I was playing with four hours a day! I was hitting the ball and when I got home I asked my parents to take tennis lessons. That’s how it all started. »
A powerful and complete game
Nineteen years later, he is in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career. And not just any. In 2004, he was watching the French Open final between fellow countrymen Gaston Gaudio and Guillermo Coria – the former won 0-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 8-6. It was the first game he remembers seeing on television. Roland-Garros then became his favorite tournament, to the point that he named his dog that way.
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