Mind vs. body: Etcheverry’s internal battle

Tomas Martin Etcheverry is all too familiar with the feeling of nausea; he has had more than his fair share of it. But when he started to feel nauseous at his latest US Open match, he was scared. “What’s going on?” he thought, when the dizziness hit.

The sudden attack did not look good. The Argentine was vomiting near the towel area on Court No. 12. But it did not prevent him from booking a place in the third round of the US Open, where he will face fourth seed Alexander Zverev on Friday.

Feeling out of whack yet still securing victory is nothing new for the 25-year-old. Just four months ago, Etcheverry was facing Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan in Houston, where 'Tomy' vomited before serving out the match. “It’s normal now,” he said with a smile after Wednesday’s incident against his countryman Francisco Cerundolo. “This has happened to me loads of times”.

There are various reasons for this clash between body and mind. On Wednesday, dehydration was the root cause. The fear that he would be affected by the temperature at the time — nearly 40-degrees celsius — was significant. “I should have taken on more salts and fluids, but I didn’t. That’s why I ended up vomiting. My body couldn’t take it,” explained the No. 33 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Nerves have also had played its part in Etcheverry's internal battles. Before the age of 17, competing on the tennis court plagued Etcheverry with stress and it would frequently make him vomit before or during every match. The La Plata native alleviated the problem, first with better nutrition, then by resting longer and finally, he began working with a psychologist. But the issue has not been completely eliminated.

One thing that has never changed is Etcheverry’s attitude. His fighting spirit is one of his greatest strengths. Sometimes his body suggests he stop, but his mind always wants to keep on playing. In the end, the brain wins the battle, as it did in the clash with Cerundolo, against whom he also came through a twisted ankle. It required medical attention but proved to be just a minor knock, unlike the attack of nausea.

“The ankle thing was nothing. The real scare was when I started to get dizzy. I said, ‘What’s going on, man?’. I was scared. But you have to adapt. I know I have to deal with these kinds of things. At that point, the match was there for whoever wanted it more. The one who gave up first would lose, so I had to keep dealing with it,” added Etcheverry. 

He continued to deal with nausea, even after the near five-hour match was over. There was still another mountain to climb: an ice bath, cool down on an exercise bike, massages with his physio, interviews with the media for almost an hour, a recovery meal, and starting to think about the next match. The most surprising thing of all is that he did not seem as tired as one would imagine.

“I’ve had many matches with more adversity," said Etcheverry. "For example, last year in the first round of this tournament, I won 7-6 in the fifth and ended up far worse than today.”

If his calculations are correct, Etcheverry will be revitalised in time for Friday’s match against 2020 finalist Zverev, who leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 1-0 after a four-set battle last year at Roland Garros. It will be Etcheverry’s first venture into round three of the New York tournament.

“I already have experience of playing him and I know how I have to play against him. The good news is that I’m playing well again and feeling confident,” said Etcheverry, who has strung together back-to-back wins for the first time since Roland Garros. “I’m going to focus on my recovery. Sleep, rest and eating well will be sufficient. But I really want to play this match. I’m going to go out to win no matter what.”

More good news for Etcheverry comes in the form of the weather forecast; “luckily the temperature is due to drop.”

Editor's Note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es.

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