For a champion who has been around the traps as long as Novak Djokovic, it is logical he’ll begin to square off against emerging talents who look up to him.
His third-round Australian Open opponent, Tomas Martin Etcheverry, must cast aside idol worship on Friday night when he realises a dream in facing the world No.1 at Rod Laver Arena under lights.
DRAW: Australian Open 2024 men’s and women's singles
The 24-year-old first revealed his admiration for the 24-time major winner in 2016 when he shared a photo of himself that highlighted his first ATP ranking point and the 12,899-point gap that existed between the pair.
As his career blossomed, Etcheverry shared subsequent photos of the shrinking points tally between him and the man he attributed with having inspired his chosen career path.
For the record, the gap has closed to 9680 points, primarily due to the Argentine’s rise last year when he reached two finals and beat the likes of Alex de Minaur en route to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros.
Djokovic has been made to work exceptionally hard for his first two wins of AO 2024 against qualifier Dino Prizmic and Australian Alexei
Popyrin, while Etcheverry did not drop a set to veterans Andy Murray and Gael Monfils.
The match-up against Djokovic, who owns a 2-0 record over his opponent, marks the 30th seed’s third consecutive opponent aged 36 or older
“He beat Monfils and Murray quite comfortably both matches. I will have to do my homework and see how he played,” Djokovic said. “Yeah, results are really impressive. He's obviously playing maybe tennis of his life on the hard court.”
“Tomas is a great guy. I get along very well with him and his team. Obviously on the court we're going to be opponents. We both want to win.
“I'm going to try to learn from the previous matches we had, but I think his level of tennis on the hard court particularly has improved a lot. Results are a testament to that. I have to be very, very prepared and ready for that.”
Fellow reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka enjoyed far smoother progress through her opening two rounds after she limited teenagers Ella Seidel and Brenda Fruhvirtova to a collective six games.
The second seed opens the day session at RLA against 34-year-old Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko, a player who reached the fourth round at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon last year to return to the top 30.
It has been anything but smooth sailing for last year’s finalist, seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
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The Greek needed four sets to move past lucky loser Zizou Bergs before a three-and-a-half-hour battle with Jordan Thompson.
On Thursday, he faces French mathematician Luca van Assche, the second-highest ranked teenager in the top 100, at RLA.
Van Assche claimed his second five-set triumph from as many rounds after he stunned 25th seed Lorenzo Musetti.
Rounding out the night session, Roland Garros 2021 champion Barbora Krejcikova and Australian qualifier Storm Hunter face off for the first time in singles.
It has been a breakout campaign for 29-year-old Hunter, the world No.180, who has now reeled off five straight wins through qualifying and the main draw to reach the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time.
After conceding a set in her opening round, ninth seed Krejcikova cruised past Tamara Korpatsch to earn a shot at the second week for the third year running.
US Open champion Coco Gauff continues her push for a third round of 16 showing at Melbourne Park in five years when she attempts to hold off big-striking fellow American Alycia Parks in a first-time clash, while men’s fourth seed Jannik Sinner will attempt to out-fox Argentine 26th seed Sebastian Baez for the second time, both at Margaret Court Arena.