Tomás Etcheverry wins the longest match in Shanghai history | ATP Tour

Shanghai

Etcheverry wins the longest match in Shanghai history

The Argentine will be the rival of Sinner or Daniel in the third round

October 04, 2024

If there is something that distinguishes Tomás Martín Etcheverry, it is that it does not matter how long he is on the court, because he will leave everything until the last point. He has demonstrated this throughout his career and this Friday he won the longest match in the history of the tournament at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The 25-year-old Argentine needed three hours and 43 minutes to resolve on his side the second round match of the ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai against Botic Van de Zandschulp by 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5.

The No. 31 seed achieved his first win on this Asian tour, after bowing out in the first round last week in Tokyo (l. to O’Connell).

The No. 37 in the PIF ATP Rankings had several opportunities to close out the victory much earlier, as he was at 5-4 in the third set and let four match points escape on his serve. Van de Zandschulp was able to come back from 2-5 down to tie it at five games in the deciding set.

With the score at 5-5 and after three hours of play, the two players had left everything on the court. But in that game at the limit, Etcheverry managed to deliver the final blow. First, advancing his serve (6-5) and then, with the support of the stands, he did not waste his fifth match point to close the pass to the next round.

The Argentine, who had never won a match in Shanghai until this edition, awaits in the third round the winner of the duel that brings together the world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and the Japanese Taro Daniel.

At the beginning of the day this Friday, the Argentine Sebastián Báez was also unable to open his participation in Shanghai with a victory against Gael Monfils. The No. 22 seed lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 12 minutes.

The 38-year-old French veteran will meet in the third round with his compatriot – and recent finalist in Tokyo – Ugo Humbert, who beat Arthur Cazaux 6-3, 6-2.

This Saturday the last Argentine player who remains to debut in this edition in Shanghai will enter the game, it will be the No. 27 favorite Francisco Cerúndolo, who will have to face the Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko on the Grandstand 2 court at 12:30 pm (local time).