(VIDEO) Nuno Borges wins Barcelona Open second round match with underarm serve ace

ATP
Wednesday, 15 April 2026 at 14:36
nunoborges
Nuno Borges has sealed one of the biggest wins of his career in some style. He took down Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 7-6(4) to book his spot in the Barcelona Open quarterfinal.
The Portuguese made it into this stage with a straight set victory over Adrian Mannarino, and was looking to make even more progress against a very tough competitor in this scenery.
Etcheverry had pushed world number two Carlos Alcaraz hard in the Monte-Carlo Masters, and was coming off the back of defeating Jack Draper in his opening test in Catalonia, handicapped by the fact that Draper retired after physical troubles.
Both players saw a pristine opportunity to reach the last-eight of the ATP 500 event, but it was the world number 52 who clinched it with the Argentine stunned after a phenomenal and unexpected underarm serve right at the end caught him off guard, sending him out of the tournament.
The first set began on serve relatively routinely. Etcheverry had the first chances to break the serve, but these were wasted. Borges showed him how it was done in the next game, blowing a 0-40 lead before getting himself over the line to move 5-3 ahead. He served it out with his fourth match point to put him one set away from a huge victory.
Right at the start of the second set, he threw away another 0-40 lead as Etcheverry breathed a huge sigh of relief. While this was a frustrating outcome, the world number 52 did not sit and weep about it, breaking the serve two games later.
This time, Etcheverry was afforded time for a comeback. He broke back to level the score at 4-4, and the set went all the way to a tiebreak with only a handful of points being won against the serve.
Etcheverry took a 3-1 lead in the early stages, but Borges managed to fight his way back into contention. He did this by winning five points on the spin to create a match winning opportunity. After that was not taken, he was afforded more.
Cheekily, he opted for an underarm serve, catching his rival out as he came charging into the net. He failed to return the ball, being aced for the match in unusual circumstances.
Delight for Borges who will fancy his chances against either the number three seed Alex de Minaur or Hamad Medjedovic.
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