Fantastic debut for Tomás Etcheverry in Australia: he overwhelmed Andy Murray, who announced his probable farewell to Melbourne

Excellent news and an early elimination left the second day of competition for the Argentine legion in the men’s team of Australian Open. The thing is Tomas Etcheverry he put in a fantastic performance against none other than the former world number 1, the English Andy Murraywho even announced it It may have been his last match in the first Grand Slam of the season, where he was a five-time finalist. In exchange, the Rosary Federico Coria (56th in the world ranking) had a quick farewell after falling to the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang (53°).

The man from La Plata, 30th in the world ranking, removed one of his idols from the poster, to sensationally beat him with sets of 6-4, 6-2 and 6-2 in two hours and 23 minutes of play at the Kia Arena of Melbourne Park.

The 36-year-old Briton, 12 years older than the Argentine, suggested it he could play his last seasonput up stiff resistance in a first series of 61 minutesbut that playing time ended up benefiting Etcheverry.

“It was very difficult for me to play with a legend like Andy, but that first long set favored me, because he is still fantastic, so physically, even though he is very good, it was better for me. The key today was serving , I “I saved in difficult times, I served like Juan Martín (Del Potro)”Etcheverry said.

“Both Del Potro and Guillermo Vilas are role models, they inspire us, I hope I can have a bit of the career they had”added the Argentine, who in the next round will face another veteran of the circuit like the Frenchman. Gael Monfils (37 years old)who beat the German Yannick Hanfmann in three sets, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. The Serbian appears on the third wheel horizon Novak DjokovicBut that will be another story.

Etcheverry closed a scoreboard with visibly superior numbers, having achieved 75 percent of the points won with the first serve, eleven aces and 38 winners, compared to 37 unforced errors by Murray, a five-time finalist in Australia (2010, 2011, 2013). , 2015 and 2016).

With his victory, Etcheverry ensured the presence of four Argentinians in the R2 of the Australian Open, following the triumphs of Francisco Cerúndolo (22nd), Sebastián Báez (26th) and Nadia Podoroska.

Rosario’s “Peque”, number 63 in the WTA ranking, overtook the Slovenian at the start of the second day Tamara Zidansek (99th) 6-0 and 6-1, after an hour and 15 minutes of play on court 8, which earned him the best victory (numerically) of a Slam in his career.

The best Argentine racket will face the American one in the next instance Amanda Anisimova (339th), which comes from the sensational victory against the Russian Liudmila Samsonova (14th).

The last Argentine to debut in the tournament was Federico Coria (85th) from Rosario, who had a quick farewell after losing to the Chinese Zhizhen Zhang (53rd) 6-4, 7-6 (3) and 7- 6 (5 ) in two hours and 23 minutes on court 7.

“Fefo” Coria suffered the same fate as Facundo Díaz Acosta (93rd) and Pedro Cachín (72nd), who were also eliminated on their debut.

The brother of Argentina’s Davis Cup captain Guillermo “Mago” Coria has never made it past the opening stage in his four appearances in Australia and added his 10th early departure in Grand Slam tournaments after amassing two more at Roland Garros, three at Wimbledon and one at the US Open.