Etcheverry on late sister: ‘She’s always by my side’

Tomas Martin Etcheverry has been on an emotional rollercoaster in the past two years.

On court, the Argentine has earned the best results of his career. He reached tour-level finals in Santiago and Houston, his first major quarter-final at Roland Garros and climbed to a career-high No. 30 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

However, devastating news 14 months ago puts his success into perspective. In September 2022, Etcheverry’s sister Magali passed away after a battle with breast cancer.

Since then, the 24-year-old has dedicated each win to his late sister, pointing to the sky.

“She's always by my side,” Etcheverry told ATPTour.com last year. “I look at the sky always when I play a match and I think that she gives me strength. The year 2022 was the worst for the family with this happening. It was tough.

“I think sometimes people think they have a problem. Life is more than that. That is why I try to look at life totally differently. Maybe it shows that tennis is important but it's not the be-all and end-all.”

Magali was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 before she passed away in 2022. Etcheverry revealed that it was one of the toughest periods of his life, but hung onto tennis in an attempt to give his family brief periods of joy during times of despair.

“It was the most difficult period,” Etcheverry said. “I just wanted to be with my family when this was happening. Sometimes when I play, I feel that. My family is happy to see me playing and I am grateful that I can give them [something] to smile about. That's the only thing I can do in this moment.”

Nine months after her death, in June 2023, Etcheverry enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros. After defeating Yoshihito Nishioka in the fourth round, the 24-year-old dropped to his knees in tears on the terre battue, dedicating his win to Magali.

Etcheverry reflects on his achievements in Paris with pride.

“I always wanted to play Roland Garros, so it was a special moment,” World No. 30 Etcheverry said. “I shared it with my team, with my uncle, with my grandfather, with my family and also with my friends in Argentina. When I arrived back to Argentina, it was really crazy because all the people called my name and called me. They said beautiful things to me. It was incredible.”

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Etcheverry will hope to replicate that form at the Australian Open, where he begins against Andy Murray on Monday. The Argentine and Scot are locked at 1-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with five-time finalist Murray expecting a tough test.

“He has a game that can make the matches [physical],” Murray said during his pre-tournament press conference. “We played in Basel, I don't know if it was over three hours, but it felt like it was. In Indian Wells, another long one.

“I know that last year when I wasn't serving well, you end up getting into lots more long rallies and everything. Because of the way I return, I put quite a lot of returns back in play, you can end up getting into lots of long points when that's the case. Matches will go on. Hopefully that's not the case in a couple of days.”

Spurred on by the spirit of his late sister, Etcheverry will hope to defeat Murray and advance to the second round in Melbourne for the second time. If he can prevail, a potential meeting with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic might lie ahead in the third round.