Tomás Etcheverry and the brutal conditions of the triumph against his friend Cerúndolo at the US Open: “They were terrible”

Tomás Etcheverry won one of the most demanding matches of his entire career this Wednesday. Made it to the third round of the US Open in five sets, after four hours and four minutes of play and under oppressive heat that hit court 12 of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

However, their celebration was measured. She raised her arms and lowered them quickly to greet his rival with great respect. The thing is that on the other side of the network there was another Argentine, but above all, a friend with whom he took his first steps in the minor categories of our country: Francisco Cerúndolo.

“The conditions were terrible. “They told us before the match that we could have those ten minutes because of the heat between the second and third sets to get some air, but in the end we decided to continue,” The 25-year-old from La Plata said minutes after winning a tight victory 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6 and 6-3 and earning the right to face in the next instance Alexander Zverev, the world number four who eliminated the Frenchman Alexandre Müller in straight sets (6-4, 7-6 and 6-1).

Then, apart from the weather factor, he pointed out the category of his opponent as another of the great difficulties he had in the New York afternoon. “Fran plays an egg at this sport. He has a forehand that is one of the best on the circuit and it was very difficult to face him. He was a great match, he was there for either of them. I thought I was getting away in the fifth set when I started break down, but there I was able to find an energy that I hadn’t been having and I was able to let go a little more; I started to play a little more aggressively, I got a good difference quickly, I got 4-1, and there I had to hold serve. That’s what happened, but it was all very difficult,” the winner analyzed in conversation with ESPN.

The match started favorably for Etcheverry. He won the first set with authority and had great chances of gaining an advantage that could be decisive. First, he generated two break points to go 4-3 up in the second set and then went 0-40 on his opponent’s serve at 4-4, but he couldn’t take advantage of any of those. break points and he paid dearly for it.

“That moment was not easy. I remember going to the bathroom to calm down a bit. We know that being two sets to zero it is very difficult to turn it around in a Grand Slam and even more so with this heat. There I lost a great possibility, but we know it can happen. It’s tennis and Fran has the shots to get out of those situations,” she analyzed before the television microphones. Indeed, Cerúndolo managed to escape from that pressing situation and evened out the numbers.

The third went to Tomi after a set point in which one of his sneakers came off and he sprained his right ankle. He was ahead on the scoreboard, but had to ask for medical assistance, he was treated for a few minutes and caused concern. He suffered it and the fourth quarter easily escaped him 6-1. Everything had to be defined in the fifth.

The heat did not stop and the tennis players suffered from it, but neither of them was going to give in. Etcheverry stayed in the game even after vomiting on the field. “When I broke down I was still 4-1, I was two games“It wasn’t that much missing,” He counted post-match.

And he closed it with three aces consecutive to total 23 direct aces in the entire match. “I said: ‘I’m going for it.’ I wanted to throw it away. I am very confident in that shot, I have been doing it well. “It is a weapon and we are going to use it,” he concluded.

In another of Wednesday’s games in New York, Sebastian Baez, 23rd in the world and number one racket in Argentina, he had to retire after suffering an injury to his right foot when he lost 6-1 and 2-0 against the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor (40th), while the positive note of the day was gave Francisco Comesaña, who defeated Frenchman Ugo Humbert 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 and 6-4. He now waits for Matteo Berrettini or Taylor Fritz.

In this way, Comesaña joins Etcheverry among those classified for the third round, a stage to which they will seek to reach Facundo Díaz Acosta y Mariano Navone this Thursday.

Díaz Acosta will face the British Jack Draper in the third round of the court 5, which will begin at 12 noon in Argentina with two women’s matches (Bondar-Kalinskaya and Boulter-Bouzas Maneiro). Then, on that same court, Navone will face another Englishman, Daniel Evans, who has just beaten Karen Khachanov in the longest match (5h35′) in the history of the US Open.