Tomas Martin Etcheverry had been one of the best ATP Challenger Tour players, more or less, since the post-pandemic restart (posted 40+ wins in the 2021 and 2022 seasons), but was struggling to take that form to the main circuit. After going 3-14 on the ATP Tour last year, he managed to produce a completely different campaign in 2o23 (30-27). Etcheverry fully established himself as a threat to the best players in the world.
Slam quarterfinal, two ATP 250 runner-up finishes
The Golden Swing was always supposed to be Etcheverry’s best chance to break through, but going into the last event in Santiago, he was probably slightly disappointed with his campaign. He made the quarterfinals in Buenos Aires, running out of steam against Cameron Norrie despite his reputation as a marathon man, and suffered two first-round exits. The run in Santiago ended up kickstarting him for the rest of the season, though, as the 24-year-old came very close to picking up his first ATP Tour title, losing out 7-6 6-7 2-6 to Nicolas Jarry in the final. Etcheverry would soon go on to post another final in Houston, where Frances Tiafoe defeated him in a couple of tie-breaks.
His best result of the season was definitely the French Open quarterfinal. After a couple of tough draws in Madrid and Rome (second-round exits to Tiafoe and Novak Djokovic), Etcheverry built up some momentum for Paris with a final at the Challenger 175 in Bordeaux. He was almost unplayable in the first four rounds in Paris, beating strong opposition like Alex de Minaur and Borna Coric without dropping a set. It was an absolute Etcheverry clinic as he finally unleashed that heavy forehand on one of the biggest stages, eventually losing to Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals.
Solid results off-clay, Slam marathons
The expectations regarding his grass and hard court performances will never be that high, but there’s a bit of untapped potential in Etcheverry’s game outside of his favorite surface. Due to his height, his serve still has some room for improvement, and part of his 2023 success was getting more flat power out of it instead of focusing on the angles and spins that usually work best on clay. The 24-year-old’s forehand is an elite shot that shouldn’t be too dependent on the conditions.
It’s not that Etcheverry was setting the world on fire in the second half of the year, but the quarterfinals in Basel and Zhuhai, plus winning a round at Wimbledon and the US Open, were enough for that part of the season not to go to waste for him. He didn’t really post any signature wins, although that could have gone much better if he converted his chances against Casper Ruud in Beijing and Holger Rune in the aforementioned Basel run.
Defeating Bernabe Zapata Miralles in 4 hours, 37 minutes (Wimbledon) and Otto Virtanen in 4 hours, 25 minutes (US Open) was a nice callback to all the marathon thrillers that he was often winning on the Challenger Tour (he’s now 4-0 in matches that go beyond 3 hours and 50 minutes). It was an awesome season for Etcheverry, and the main goal for 2024 should be to stabilize at this level.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane – USA TODAY Sports
