Help
5/20/08 12:37 AM | David Cox
El Aynaoui's blistering forehand still proves effective, especially on the clay, and over the past month he won a challenger in Switzerland before making the Munich semis, pushing Fernando Gonzalez to three sets.
As you’d expect, past Hrbaty-El Aynaoui duels go back a long way and it’s the Slovak who’s turned up trumps in all three. He started the sequence in Key Biscayne 1999, winning 6-7, 6-3, 6-0, then in Indian Wells the following year, and most crushingly, 6-3, 6-4 in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Hrbaty has had the slightly more illustrious career, one more title (6) and a career best of ranking of No. 12, two places higher than the Moroccan managed and notably he actually made it to the finals of two Masters Series events (Monte Carlo and Paris).
Hrbaty had the easiest of passages through to the last 16, when Peter Luzcak retired at 2-1 down in the first set. Poor old El Aynaoui had to battle for over two hours against 8th seed Hanescu. However, Hrbaty must have breathed a vast sigh of relief having finally broken an ATP losing streak of nine matches, astonishingly going all the way back to Canada last summer.
Prediction: El Aynaoui to continue to delight home fans, in three.
Tell a friend »
Did you know that... Benjamin Becker was given the ATP-tour's rookie of the year award in 2006.
tenstar, Sep 8, 2008 10:18 AM
mara2, Sep 8, 2008 7:00 AM
RafaNadalGirl20, Sep 8, 2008 6:50 AM
BernieEliza, Sep 8, 2008 5:47 AM
BernieEliza, Sep 8, 2008 5:42 AM
kaitepai, Sep 8, 2008 6:04 AM
DdV, Sep 7, 2008 5:43 PM
DdV, Sep 7, 2008 5:36 PM
Did you know that... Roger Federer didn’t lose a single set during the Australian Open in 2005.
tenstar, Sep 8, 2008 10:18 AM
mara2, Sep 8, 2008 7:00 AM
RafaNadalGirl20, Sep 8, 2008 6:50 AM
BernieEliza, Sep 8, 2008 5:47 AM
BernieEliza, Sep 8, 2008 5:42 AM
kaitepai, Sep 8, 2008 6:04 AM
DdV, Sep 7, 2008 5:43 PM
DdV, Sep 7, 2008 5:36 PM
