Tomas Martin Etcheverry sets up 1st meeting with Novak Djokovic, 6 years after beginning tracking his rankings gap with idol

Tomas Martin Etcheverry has kept track of his gap with his idol Novak Djokovic on the ATP Tour since his maiden appearance in the rankings at the age of 16, and will now take on the Serb for the first time ever.

Etcheverry began his campaign at the 2023 Italian Open with a straight sets victory over Luca Van Assche, winning 7-6(7), 6-3. With his win, the Argentine has set up a second-round clash against defending champion Novak Djokovic at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

When Etcheverry began tracking his rankings gap with the 22-time Grand Slam champion in July 2016 after he secured his first ATP point and made his maiden appearance in the rankings, Djokovic was ranked No. 1 in the world with 12,900 points to his name.

The 23-year-old shared an update on his rankings gap with Djokovic after breaking into the ATP top 100 in April 2022. With 714 points to his name, his gap to the World No. 1 stood at 7,706 points at the time.

Ranked World No. 61, Etcheverry currently holds 826 ranking points as compared to the World No. 1's 6,775 points, leaving their points gap standing at 5,949 points.

Novak Djokovic attends Champions League semi-final clash between AC Milan and Inter

The 22-time Grand Slam champion atteanded the AC Milan v Inter Milan semifinal clash

On May 10, Novak Djokovic attended the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal between Italian giants AC Milan and Inter Milan at the San Siro stadium.

An avid football fan, the 35-year-old previously shared in 2014 that he closely follows AC Milan with his family, mentioning that football comes second only to tennis for him, as his father was a professional footballer.

"I’m a big fan of Milan and I’ll always be. For me, football is second only [to] tennis. My father was a professional footballer and at home we always watch the Rossoneri’s games with great interest," he said at the time.

While there, the 22-time Grand Slam champion posed for a picture with AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic who had to sit out of the semifinal clash due to injury.

During the match, the World No. 1 spoke to the media in Italian, touching on his close friendship with Ibrahimovic and wishing AC Milan a victory.

"Ofcourse with Zlatan, we speak in our language. I'm very close to him. Yes, I feel very close to the whole team, especially Paolo and Zlatan. I wish a nice evening for the I Rossoneri and hopefully for a win tonight. Thank you very much," he said.

Italian sensation Matteo Berrettini and his girlfriend Melissa Satta also took in the action at the San Siro stadium, where AC Milan fell to a 0-2 loss against their derby rivals.