1 Response to uo03nalbandian_elaynaoui

1. Voo de Mar says:

   September 4, 2026 at 5:44 pm

   Points won by each set: | 47-39, 33-17, 24-29, 41-32 |
   Unreturned serves:
   19 % Nalbandian – 23 of 116
   31 % El Aynaoui – 46 of 146

   An evening match at Louis Armstrong Stadium, the fourth and last major quarterfinal in [21] El Aynoaui’s career. He led *6:5 (15/0) in the opener and left the ball he could have played quite comfortably with his high forehand volley. He entered the tie-break having won 9 in a row (7 during that US Open edition!), but he lost it 2/7 mainly due to his errors. At 0:3* in the 2nd set he took a medical time-out to his knee, he looked sluggish, it seemed an inevitable three-setter was on the horizon, but he fought off a couple of break points at 0:4 and came back to his normal self. The 3rd set he began dropping his serve, but quickly broke back, stole the set, and led 4:2* (30/15) in the 4th, when Nalbandian [13] played one of his best backhands down the line that evening. The Argentine regained his good mood, and restored the control over the match. He led 6:5* (40/15) when the Moroccan saved the double match point with two aces, and was a point away from another tie-break after an unreturned serve. He failed to deliver another service point, and facing a third match point he gambled a bit – attacked the net behind the serve, but Nalbandian’s return forced his error.

   Serve & volley: Nalbandian 6/7, El Aynaoui 4/6

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