Have clay, will play: Tomas Martin Etcheverry overcomes unexpected challenge in Houston

HOUSTON—It wouldn’t have been Robin Soderling over Rafael Nadal, but Alex Bolt over Tomas Martin Etcheverry definitely would have registered on the clay-court upset scale.

Of this year’s field at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship, Etcheverry entered the tournament with the most career clay-court wins: 56. His second-round opponent, Alex Bolt, was tied with the fewest: zero.

Bolt, a 165^th-ranked qualifier from Australia, was also the oldest player in the draw, at 33. His 26-year-old counterpart finished runner-up at River Oaks Country Club in 2023, and earlier this year outlasted a slew of dirtballers at the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro for his first career tour title.

It was a mismatch in every way, but Bolt’s play and some wicked wind conspired to leave Etcheverry searching for answers early on.

“Tough, tough conditions, said Etcheverry. “The ball moves a lot when I toss for the serve, and also for the rallies. Sometimes, was crazy. You just put the ball in the middle, I didn’t take any risk.”

Unable to impose his game on Bolt, the 6’5” Argentine was also befuddled by the southpaw’s propensity for the slice, and rather unorthodox style of play. Bolt can lull you to sleep with his tennis, but covers the court well and can uncork a big ball when needed. It was enough to see him past two three-setters in qualifying, and Wu Yibing in the main draw—for his first career tour win on clay.

After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, Etcheverry rolled through the second set, 6-0. From then on, he applied pressure with methodical service holds until Bolt, opting for too much risk, cracked at 3-4. Etcheverry held for a 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-3 victory.

“Lot of slice, came to the net,” said Etcheverry. “He did a good job today.”

But not as good as Etcheverry.

Wednesday's Houston Results:

• Roman Andres Burruchaga d. Adam Walton, 6-2, 6-3
• Tomas Etcheverry d. Alex Bolt, 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-3
• Thiago Agustin Tirante d. Mackenzie McDonald, 6-2, 6-0
• Ben Shelton vs. Zhizhen Zhang
• Tommy Paul vs. Adolfo Daniel Vallejo

Thursday in Houston: Where to Watch

🎾 Roman Andres Burruchaga vs. Brandon Nakashima (not before 3 p.m. ET)
🎾 Learner Tien vs. Nishesh Basavareddy (to follow)
🎾 Frances Tiafoe vs. Rinky Hijikata (not before 7 p.m. ET)
🎾 Alex Michelsen vs. Alexei Popyrin (to follow)

For complete coverage information on the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship, streaming on the Tennis Channel app and airing on Tennis Channel 2, click here.

👉 Click here to see full results, and today's complete order of play.