A very good news and an early elimination left Day 2 of competition for the Argentine legion in the men's draw of the Australian Open. Tomás Etcheverry had a fantastic performance against none other than the former world number 1, the British Andy Murray, who even announced that it could have been his last match in the first Grand Slam of the season, where he was a finalist five times. On the other hand, Federico Coria (56th in the world ranking) from Rosario had a quick farewell after losing to China's Zhizhen Zhang (53rd).
Photo: AP/Andy Wong
The player from La Plata, ranked 30th in the world, knocked one of his idols off the poster, to beat him convincingly with partials of 6-4, 6-2 and 6-2 in two hours and 23 minutes of play at the Kia Arena in Melbourne Park.
The 36-year-old Briton, 12 years older than the Argentine and who suggested he might be playing his final season, put up stiff resistance in a 61-minute first set, but that playing time ended up benefiting Etcheverry.
"It's very hard for me to play with a legend like Andy, but that first long set favored me, because he's still big, so physically, beyond the fact that he's very good, it was better for me. The key today was the serve, he saved me in moments of trouble, I served like Juan Martin (Del Potro)," said Etcheverry.
Tomy Etcheverry's first words after a great performance against Murray! ▶️ #ESPNenStarPlus https://t.co/N4vHcHLK1x pic.twitter.com/nQwScauu4b
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"Both Del Potro and Guillermo Vilas are role models, it inspires us, hopefully I can have a little bit of the career they had," added the Argentine, who will face in the next round another veteran of the circuit such as Frenchman Gael Monfils (37 years old), who beat German Yannick Hanfmann in three sets, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. On the horizon of the third round appears the Serbian Novak Djokovic, but that will be another story.
Etcheverry closed a sheet with visibly superior numbers, as he won 75 percent of the points won with his first serve, eleven aces and 38 winners, against the 37 unforced errors of Murray, a five-time finalist in Australia (2010, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016).
With his victory, Etcheverry secured the presence of four Argentines in R2 of the Australian Open, after the triumphs of Francisco Cerundolo (22nd), Sebastián Báez (26th) and Nadia Podoroska.
Nadia Podoroska. Photo: Anthony WALLACE / AFP
The "Peque" from Rosario, number 63 in the WTA ranking, beat the Slovenian Tamara Zidansek (99th) 6-0, 6-1 at the start of the second day, after an hour and 15 minutes of play on Court 8, which meant her best victory (in numbers) of a Grand Slam in her career.
The best Argentine player will next face the American Amanda Anisimova (339th), who is coming off a resounding victory over Russia's Liudmila Samsonova (14th).
Federico Coria. Photo: Anthony WALLACE / AFP
The last Argentine to make his debut in the tournament was Federico Coria (85th) from Rosario, who had a quick goodbye for his defeat against China's Zhizhen Zhang (53rd) 6-4, 7-6 (3) and 7-6 (5) in two hours, 23 minutes on court 7.
"Fefo" Coria suffered the same fate as Facundo Díaz Acosta (93rd) and Pedro Cachín (72nd), also eliminated in the debut.
The brother of Argentina's Davis Cup captain, Guillermo "Mago" Coria, has never made it past the opening phase in his four appearances in Australia and added his tenth early farewell at Grand Slam tournaments after accumulating two more at Roland Garros, three at Wimbledon and one at the US Open.