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Nuno Borges stuns Etcheverry and Barcelona crowd with underarm serve ace on match point

The perfectly legal tactic employed Wednesday naturally drew mixed reactions.

ByTENNIS.com

Published Apr 15, 2026

There’s nothing like closing out a tennis match with an ace.

Until you’ve done it with an underarm ace. That’s what Nuno Borges pulled off Wednesday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell to seal his place in the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 event.

After Tomas Martin Etcheverry saved his first match point with a return winner against the serve-and-volleying Borges, the Portuguese surprised everyone inside Pista Rafa Nadal with the provocative ploy.

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WATCH: Nuno Borges defeats Tomas Martin Etcheverry with underarm ace

A stunned Etcheverry was unable to get a racquet on the dying ball in the deuce court, leaving him to put hands on his hips in disbelief as Borges clinched the 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory. A quick handshake at the net followed, with Etcheverry later withdrawing from his doubles match with Corentin Moutet.

Reaction to how Borges got across the line was mixed, from the boos heard at the venue to the opinions voiced on social media. A sample:

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Hope to live long enough to witness crowds actually applauding smart tactical decisions instead of booing them — in this case, the underarm serve.

Can’t understand how it’s considered “disrespectful.” By that logic, dropshots should also be booed, not applauded… https://t.co/4QaupW5yXL
— Tennis Masterr (@tennismasterr) April 15, 2026

If I lost on match point to an underarm ace we’re throwing hands at the net pic.twitter.com/oJDboIe9zK
— Barstool Tennis (@StoolTennis) April 15, 2026

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An underarm serve is like under arm bowling in cricket, disgraceful, within the rules of the game but shouldn’t be allowed in professional tennis 🎾
— Madhusudan (@planeinsanity) April 15, 2026

Tennis fans are the most sensitive sports fans ever😂
Imagine sulking in football because your opponent scored with a Rabona or Panenka.
— Proper Radgie 🤝 Massive Softie = A Peng Ting (@AttaBoi_Westy) April 15, 2026

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Strange it's never the best players who use this "strategy"...

Why use a tennis serve when you get easier points with table tennis serves? Change tennis courts' sizes to the easier size of pickleball courts! Eliminate clay courts since they're harder to win on than hard courts!
— just another Elwy fan 🎥🎬 (@sandkiz) April 15, 2026

Don't get the negativity. If it's in the rules, it's legit, and I think it's a great antidote to deep return positions. Takes skill and cojones to try it. Hard to control it under pressure when you haven't hit it regularly in a match https://t.co/01VbGz7ks8
— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) April 15, 2026

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