Australian Open: "I love Novak Djokovic, since I was a child I wanted to be like him"

Novak Djokovic has been Tomas Martin Etcheverry's idol ever since he started playing tennis as a child, and the Argentinian still idolizes the Serb.

The 23-year-old's love for Djokovic first surfaced on the internet in 2016, when he posted a photo of him winning his first ATP point, while jokingly comparing himself to Djokovic. The World No. 1 had 12.900 points to his name at the time.

Etcheverry has since had a chance to play against Djokovic, losing their Rome Masters encounter, 6-7(5), 2-6, in 2023. They also met at the Paris Masters later the same year, with Djokovic winning again in straight sets.

In an interview at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, the Argentinian revealed he hasn't yet had the chance to talk to his favorite player.

"Not yet! Hopefully, in the future I will get the chance to talk to him. I love him, it is true because since I was a child I wanted to be like him," Etcheverry said.

"I play with the same racquet like Novak, because when I changed brands to HEAD, the first racquet I asked for was the Novak racquet. I wanted to play with the Novak racquet. I'm trying to do some shots like him. Of course, he's my idol, and hopefully, in the future, I can speak with him," he added.

Etcheverry doesn't like Djokovic just because of his tennis, even though that is logically one of the reasons.

"The tennis, obviously. I think he always does the best thing. I'm always watching him and trying to learn from him. He can play on all surfaces, he can make every shot - he's so special. But also, he's a good person."

The 23-year-old from La Plata remembered the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Novak Djokovic tried to help lower-ranked players who couldn't earn enough money because a lot of tournaments were being canceled.

"He's always trying to help us, the players. During the pandemic two years ago, I remember that he always spoke through the PTPA to help us, the players that are 200, 300 in the world and have no money. He's always spent a lot of time with us, which is very special. He was the No. 1 in the world and he tried to speak with everyone. There's a lot of things," Etcheverry added.

Tomas Martin Etcheverry labels Novak Djokovic as tennis GOAT

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic at Laver Cup 2022

Tomas Martin Etcheverry thinks Novak Djokovic is the GOAT (Greatest Of All-Time) ahead of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Etcheverry talked about who the GOAT is in a recent interview at Wimbledon, giving his idol the nod in the race as he has recently jumped over Nadal with 24 Grand Slam titles won.

"Of course, I think he did it. With Grand Slams and everything. There's three of them in history - Roger, Rafa, and Novak - and in the numbers, he beat every record," Etcheverry said.

The Argentinian also talked about how tennis will look like when the Big-3 eventually fully retires, saying:

"I don't know. Hopefully, we can keep this popularity. That's a good question because I am afraid. Hopefully, we can get the sport up, but we don't have yet players like Novak, Roger, and Rafa," he concluded.

The pair are now set to meet once again in the third round of the 2024 Australian Open on Saturday.