Etcheverry won the Argentina Open battle against Burruchaga and became the first to qualify for the quarterfinals
The Argentinian Tomas Etcheverry (current number 57 in the ranking) beat his compatriot 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3) and 6-4 Roman Burruchaga (104th), in a very close match that lasted more than three and a half hours, to become the first to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Argentina Open 2026.
In almost an hour and 20 minutes, Etcheverry was left with an extremely hard-fought first set in which he had to fight from the bottom until the end. After a tight start, with a break on each side and reaching 5-4 with a serve from La Plata, Burruchaga, who has just lost in the Rosario Challenger final against Camilo Ugo Carabelli (47th), found himself with an unbeatable opportunity, having break and set point in favor. At this point he decided to take a risk with a parallel right that ended up narrowly missing. Afterwards, Tomás was able to close the game and make the match 5 all, and then take it to the tie-breakerwho would finally end up winning 7-5.
In the first game of the second set, Etcheverry, who was once number 27 in the world and is the last Argentine to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam (Roland Garros 2023), faced a double break point against him. He was able to lift the first with an ace, but then left the ball in the net to start the set by losing his serve. Later, when Burruchaga was serving 3-2, he recovered the break and equalized the set, which he would end up losing 7-3 in the second tie-breaker of the party. It should be noted that Burruchaga saved a match point when the set was 5-6 and thus he got back into the match.
Finally, with a notably Burruchaga physically diminishedEtcheverry, executioner of the qualy Italian Andrea Pellegrino (145°) in his debut, achieved break your rival’s serve three times and thus win the last set 6-4 to win the match and advance to the quarterfinals.
In any case, a great present for the Buenos Aires native, 24 years old and son of Jorge Burruchaga, who had surpassed the Serbian Laslo Djere (91st) in the debut and was very fine with the drop shotsdemonstrating aggressive play and going up to the net. With this result, it remains in the 101st position in the live ranking, right at the gates of the long-awaited Top 100.
For his part, Etcheverry closed a tremendous victory, raising a set point in the first set and serving well in the crucial points. With this victory, equals his best performance in this tournamentachieved in 2023 and 2024, when he lost to Cameron Norrie and Nicolás Jarry, respectively, and will face the winner of the duel between Joao Fonseca (33rd), defending champion, and Alejandro Tabilo (71°).
