The tennis player from La Plata Thomas Etcheverry was eliminated today in the second round of the Masters 1000 of Rome with the defeat against the Serbian and current number one in the world, Novak Djokovicby 7-6 (5) and 6-2.
Etcheverry, number 61 in the world ranking, put up a battle in the first set and demanded from Djokovic, who needed his best level to take the first point.
The category of the Serbian and top favorite was evident in the second set that was unattainable for Etcheverry, after one hour and 51 minutes of play.
The preview of the cross between Etcheverry and Djokovic had a color data with the usual posts of the Argentine on social networks. From his first point in the ATP ranking (June 2016), he published how many he needed to reach his idol. “He has the opportunity to cut the deficit,” Djokovic said during a television interview in the days before the match.
The game between the Argentine and the Serbian was witnessed by the coach of Rome from Italy, the Portuguese José Mourinho.
Djokovic’s next opponent will be the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who beat the Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-6.
A victory and a surprise at the Foro Italico
Earlier, Francisco Cerundolo advanced to the third round of Rome after defeating the Chinese Yibing Wu 4-6, 6-2 and 6-3, while Sebastian Baez he surprisingly lost to Russian Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 6-4.
Cerúndolo, ranked 31st in the ATP world ranking, prevailed over Wu (57) after exactly two hours of play on court number 2 of the Roman Foro Italico, in a match in which he performed from low to high.
The 24-year-old Argentine will take on his next challenge against the Frenchman Gregoire Barrere (63) who won the match against the Russian Karen Khachanov (11).
For his part, Sebastián Báez (40) performed well below his level and paid for it with the defeat in straight sets against the Russian Shevchenko (93), after one hour and 45 minutes of play.
Báez, champion this year at the ATP 250 in Córdoba, had debuted in Rome with a straight-set win over Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas (97) 7-5, 6-3, while the Russian entered the main draw as ” lucky loser” replacing the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor (36), injured.
Shevchenko will play in the third round with the Italian “top ten” Jannik Sinner (9), who earlier beat Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis (104) 6-1, 6-4.
the bahiense Guido Pella (484), finally, after his successful debut yesterday with a victory over the Frenchman Maxime Cressy (41) 6-3, 6-4, he will assume his next commitment this Saturday against the Spanish Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (34), excepted of the initial round.
The tournament, which is played in parallel between the ATP and the WTA on clay courts, will distribute prizes of 8,637,966 euros and brings together Djokovic (1) and the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz (2), since they had not coincided so far in 2023.
Among the ladies, the great favorite is the Polish Iga Swiatek (1), winner in the last two editions, in 2021 and 2022, while her main rival is the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (2).
As for the Argentines who lifted the trophy in Rome, Guillermo Vilas won the 1980 edition, José Luis Clerc was crowned in 1981 and Alberto “Luli” Mancini in 1989.
However, the most outstanding of the Argentines was Gabriela Sabatini, who was crowned at the Foro Italico four times: 1988, 1989, 1991 and 1992.
Source: Ambito
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