NEW YORK - He had played almost 31/2 hours on a bright Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Open. So when Younes El Aynaoui finally prevailed against Jiri Novak, he was entitled to exult.
First, he went flat on his back, pumping his arms. After he scrambled to his feet and completed the obligatory handshake at the net, El Aynaoui started celebrating, throwing kisses to the crowd.
He began shedding equipment, tossing souvenirs into the stands - first his shirt, then his racket. He went to a courtside wall to hug his trainer and waved the Moroccan flag to the crowd. While other prospects get free rides at high-profile tennis academies, El Aynaoui paid his way through Nick Bollettieri's program.
"I was doing a lot of small jobs just to pay for my stay there," the 31-year-old said. "For a while, I cleaned the gym, organized the gym, drive the bus, watch the kids in the room, see if everything is clean at night, things like that."
That humble beginning may be part of the reason why the Open crowd urged him on with a chant of "Younes!" El Aynaoui's 7-6 (7-1), 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) victory sent him into the fourth round against Carlos Moya. As soon as the Moroccan stretches sets into tiebreaks, he has an edge. He is 5-0 in tiebreaks at the Open this year.
El Aynaoui went five hours in an epic quarterfinal against Andy Roddick at the Australian Open, losing 4-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, 21-19. Never before in Grand Slam history had a fifth set stretched 40 games.
MORE TIEBREAKERS: Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, seeded 12th, played three tiebreakers to beat qualifier Ivo Karlovic, who upset Lleyton Hewitt in the first round at Wimbledon. Schalken won 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3) and seems to fancy close sets - he has played 187, winning 92.
LAST WORD: "He always sticks to the same game plan he had since he was, I don't know, 20 years old. He's trying to overpower the opponent from the baseline. The only difference I can see is that he's got physically stronger, which is complete absurd. Normally, if you are getting older, you are becoming physically weaker. With him, it's opposite." - Yevgeny Kafelnikov after losing to Andre Agassi, 33.
