Tomás Martín Etcheverry advanced to the round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open on Sunday by defeating Croatia’s Dino Prizmic 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. The Argentine No. 29 spent two hours and 10 minutes on the red clay at the Caja Mágica before closing out the three-set victory. He will face the winner of the match between France’s Arthur Fils and American Emilio Nava.
Etcheverry dropped the opening set before breaking Prizmic in the opening game of the second set. He held his own service games the rest of the way to take the set. Two more breaks in the third set, backed by the strength of his serve, allowed him to pull away and finish the match.
Prizmic had reached the third round by eliminating fourth-seeded American Ben Shelton in the previous round. The 20-year-old Croatian qualifier, who came through the qualifying draw, defeated Shelton 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(5) in a three-hour contest on Friday. Etcheverry had advanced to the third round with a straight-sets victory over Austria’s Sebastian Ofner. Seeded 25th, he received a first-round bye and beat Ofner 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday.
The result marks Etcheverry’s first time reaching the round of 16 in four appearances at the Madrid Masters 1000. In his three previous visits to the tournament he had not advanced past the second round. The Mutua Madrid Open runs from April 22 to May 3 at the high-altitude clay venue outside the Spanish capital. The tournament is one of nine ATP Masters 1000 events on the calendar and features some of the top-ranked players in men’s tennis.
Etcheverry, a 26-year-old clay-court specialist from Argentina, has posted consistent results on the surface this season. His run in Madrid gives him a chance to build on that form as the draw narrows.
Round-of-16 matches continue in the coming days with the quarterfinals set for later in the week.
