Etcheverry to get past the quarterfinal hurdle?

Stopped in the quarterfinals twice in this tournament, the Argentine would like to go further, and it starts against a qualifier.

Over the last three years Etcheverry has reached the quarters twice, he only lost in the first round last year against Fonseca (terrible draw). You can say this tournament is generally good for him, I like the conditions for his game, he has time and his ball really kicks up, whether it’s on the forehand or the serve. He’s also having a good start to the year, his matches on hard court have convinced me and I’ve finally found the Etcheverry who had disappeared.

He comes in with good conditions to perform well here, he’ll just have to get over the pressure/tension at the start of the tournament to roll over the qualifier Pellegrino. The Italian is coming from the qualies and hasn’t lost his serve a single time, impressive. He’s a good clay-courter who takes the initiative, he’s good in the offensive phase and doesn’t wait around as much as others I’d say, it’s not an easy draw even if, to me, Etcheverry is simply better in every area.

It’s a question we often ask ourselves, but can the qualifier ride his momentum and knock out the seed? It’s possible, but Etche doesn’t seem to be the most fragile seed. I still want to give Pellegrino some credit and if we get an interesting games over line I’ll probably take it.