Tomás Etcheverry daydreams while living the best week of his life. The Platense player, number 49 in the ATP ranking, overcame Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka (who is ranked number 27) and got into the quarterfinals of Roland Garros. Tomi stayed the first set after a hard-fought tie break that ended with a tight 10-8. Then, the platense won with a convincing 6-0 and 6-1 in the fourth to get into the best eight of the Paris Open.
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We grew up playing in brick dust, this is our tournament, "said a few days ago Tomás Etcheverry who had the chance to reach the lowest part of the main draw of Roland Garros. And that's the way it's headed.
Tomi started the match well, breaking Nishioka and then keeping the break with his serve against the Japanese who then dominated with his serve but suffered when he took out the Argentine. Thus, the last Argentine in Paris was 4-2 up in just 20 minutes of play, but the Japanese maintained his service and then broke the Argentine and achieve the four equal, in a hard-fought first set that was defined in a very tight tie break.
At times, Nishioka reminded the Road Runner Chang, although Michael was of American nationality and Yoshihito Japanese. The Japanese had incredible defenses at the decisive point, he moved Etcheverry's ninety-three meter to one side and the other like a windshield. He took 6-6 and put pressure on the Argentine who received the service set point down. Tomi responded and matched the shares. Then he took a wide open and his rival returned forced and outside. The platense took the Japanese out of the box but did not dare to play a ball near the line and lost the point. He learned his lesson and solved it with two tight balls (he had 16 winning shots in the set) to take the tie break 10-8.
After that first set, two questions arose: first, how long could the Japanese defend in that way. Two: if it were to be achieved sustainably, how much Etcheverry could endure such a pace. And the start of the second was different because Tomi was finer and the Japanese was more wrong. Thus, the platense started breaking three times and maintained his three services to reach a comfortable 6-0.
Nishioka's supreme effort in the first set, returning everything Tomi threw at him, took its toll. The third set was the same as the second. And, after the 3-0, the Japanese asked for medical attention. On the way back the Japanese tried and complicated some games to the Argentine who was eager to close. It was finally 6-1 for a crushing victory and passage to the quarterfinals.
"I can't believe it. It's a dream for me, thank you for the support you gave me. It was important to share this moment with you and my team. Now to prepare for tomorrow," were the first words after the victory.
"It's hard to concentrate point to point," he said in perfect English, but then finished in Spanish. "I know there are many Argentines here, they don't know the strength they gave me. This triumph for you and for all those who support me from Argentina. They don't know what it feels like. This is the happiest moment of my life," Tomi said.
News in development.
