If there ever is a time and place for howitzer mode, it would seem to present itself when you can launch 130-mph serves from high atop a 6-4 frame, your legs are almost 32 years old and you find yourself standing across the net from the 17-year-old Next Big Thing named Rafael Nadal.

That thought crossed Younes El Aynaoui's mind.

But it didn't take long for the 21st-seeded El Aynaoui to realize conventional wisdom wasn't going to make the flowers bloom in Friday evening's second-round match.

"When I was hitting straight and hard, he was returning well, so I had to mix it up a little bit, make him play the ball a little bit higher," he said.

Pulling back on the reins, El Aynaoui relied on spin, placement and the art of surprise as he wore down Nadal, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), in a battle that was as compelling as a three-set match could be.

"It was more or less a beautiful game," the 45th-ranked Nadal said in Spanish. "I thought it was a match that was pretty equal. He served well."

Not always hard, just well.

There were times when El Aynaoui let fly, such as when he knotted the third set 3-all on a stunning, 128-mph second serve.

For the most part, he preferred to keep the youngster shuttling across the baseline, threading tempo-killing backspin into his ground strokes every chance he got.

It was an adept formula to handcuff Nadal, who was the first 16-year-old since Michael Chang in 1988 to achieve a Top-100 ranking. It also displeased golfer Sergio Garcia, who was applauding his Spanish countryman from a front-row seat. On this night, experience trumped youth.

Among the 128 men's singles players, only Andre Agassi, Todd Martin and Wayne Arthurs are older than El Aynaoui, a Moroccan father of three, and few have seen their profile rise faster than the player who gained fame in January for losing an epic Australian Open quarterfinal to Andy Roddick in 4:59.

"Last year I was really an unknown," El Aynaoui said. "Now people come to watch me play."

They have been delighted by his charity work, astounded by his six-language fluency and charmed by his habit of smiling gracefully when bested by an opponent's shot.

"They appreciate that I'm [two weeks shy of] 32 and I'm still hanging in there," El Aynaoui said.

James Blake hung in, too, continuing his strong play by defeating Sargis Sargsian, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), before a loudly supportive crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Blake, 23, advanced to play second-seeded Roger Federer, who breezily dispatched Jean-Rene Lisnard. 6-1, 6-2, 6-0. This, after Blake faced first-seeded Lleyton Hewitt in the third round last year and a third-seeded Hewitt in the second round in 2001.

"I figure, hometown kid, maybe they could rake a draw for me, but they didn't get around to it," said Blake, who was born in Yonkers. "I'm going to go down swinging. I'm going to go for everything. There's no reason why I should feel like if I play well, I'm definitely going to lose."

**Thanks to reiko for the article. Please do not use or copy without credit to the original source and VamosRafael.com. Thanks.**

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