“I remember it was a semi-final in Carilo. We were about nine, that’s when we met for the first time. The winner was guaranteed a beautiful trophy, the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, still today.
“And I was really upset because I lost to ‘Fran’ after having a match point. I cried so much that my family was worried. At some point, my dad told me not to play tennis anymore because he was seeing me suffer so much.”
Etcheverry wasn’t put off entirely. He continued to face his compatriot throughout the years as they climbed the ranks of professional tennis.
They even ended up “fighting” at a Futures event and had to sort things out off the court. But the bad blood is well and truly behind them – and Etcheverry has avenged his old losses.