"First Novak Djokovic eats your legs, then your mind or soul, then he finishes destroying you" - Tomas Etcheverry echoes Andy Roddick on facing Serb

Tomas Martin Etcheverry has echoed Andy Roddick's sentiments on how it feels to face Novak Djokovic.

Etcheverry, who has idolized the Serb since his childhood days, most recently faced him in the third round of the 2024 Australian Open. The Argentine, despite doing his best, ran into a much-improved Djokovic, who had survived major scares against Dino Prizmic and Alexei Popyrin in the first and second rounds, respectively.

It marked the Serb's first straight sets win at this year's Australian Open, as Etcheverry lost 3-6, 3-6, 6-7(2). In 2021, Andy Roddick made a post on social media during Djokovic's Round-of-16 US Open match against Jenson Brooksby.

Brooksby had surprisingly won the first set 6-1 in that match. However, across the next three sets, Djokovic put up an absolute clinic and his young opponent had no answer, losing 3-6, 2-6, 2-6 to the Serb.

As the match went on with Djokovic having turned the tables on the youngster, Roddick wrote in a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter):

"First he (Djokovic) takes your legs, then he takes your soul,"

Recently, Etcheverry echoed Roddick's sentiments as he looked back on his 2024 Australian Open encounter against the 24-time Grand Slam champion.

"Yes, the phrase is very good and accurate, that first he eats your legs, then he eats your mind or soul, and then he finishes destroying you." the Argentine said in an interview with CLAY Tenis.

The World No. 27 also compared facing Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open's biggest arena to facing Rafael Nadal at the French Open's center court.

"I knew the scenario I was facing. I knew it (Rod Laver Arena) was his court, his tournament. Like facing Rafa at the Phillippe Chatrier,"

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How has Tomas Etcheverry fared since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open?

Tomas Etcheverry lost to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open last month

After the Australian Open's conclusion, Tomas Martin Etcheverry competed at the Cordoba Open, where he was the third seed. He received a first-round bye and as a result, faced Bernabe Zapata Miralles in his opening match at the ATP 250 event in the Round of 16.

Etcheverry comfortably defeated the Spaniard 7-5, 6-4. However, in the quarterfinals, he suffered a 3-6, 4-6 humbling at the hands of compatriot Federico Coria.

Right now, Etcheverry is playing in the Argentina Open. In the singles event, he has convincingly defeated Roberto Carballes Baena and Daniel Elahi Galan so far. He will face third seed Nicolas Jarry next in the quarterfinals. However, his doubles run ended after he was eliminated alongside partner Guillermo Duran by Italy's Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.