WATCH: Cressy fires ‘slowest ace in tennis history’ against Eubanks

WATCH: One of Maxime Cressy's aces clocked in at 26 mph as he faced Christopher Eubanks in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open.

One of the craziest hot shots of this year's BNP Paribas Open was not a blazing forehand or skillful drop shot. Instead, it’s one of the slowest aces you’ll ever see in a professional match: Maxime Cressy was taking on fellow American player Christopher Eubanks, and one of his 15 aces clocked in at a glacial 26 mph (about 42 kph).

The 24-year-old Cressy is well known for his serve-and-volley style, but the gusty conditions on Thursday at Indian Wells quickly made things complicated as he went to serve. Not only did the ball catch the frame of Cressy’s racquet as he hit it, but the wind picked it up as it flew—dropping barely over the net and just out of reach of a stunned Eubanks.

“I froze. I was like, there’s no way that’s going over,” Eubanks told Tennis Channel Live after the match. “At this point, all I could do was just stare at it and tell him that was the slowest ace in the history of tennis.”

Eubanks eventually overcame Cressy 5-7, 7-6(8), 6-4 to score the second Masters 1000-level win of his career. The American acknowledged afterward that the gusty conditions definitely gave the match an additional layer of challenge, as he saved three match points in a tight second set.

“For me, the wind is always tricky, especially when you’re serving. It’s different when it’s going up and down the court as opposed to swirling,” Eubanks explained to Tennis Channel.

“So just knowing I’m with the wind now, let me move the toss back, because the wind is going to push it forward… Something to just keep the first-serve percentage high. I said, let’s just find a way to keep the serve in the box even in challenging conditions.”

Eubanks booked a place in the second round, where he will take on No. 8 seed Casper Ruud next.