Fans' favourite Younes El Aynaoui claimed another big scalp on Thursday, ousting seventh seed Carlos Moya 7-6 7-6 4-6 6-4 to reach the US Open quarter-finals.
The dread-locked Moroccan, developing something of a cult following at Flushing Meadows, out-hit the Spanish former world number one to reach the last eight here for the second consecutive year.
The match was relegated to the peripheral court seven due to a backlog of matches caused by rain but El Aynaoui lit up the stage with a powerful performance.
The 31-year-old cradled his racket and rocked it like a baby after striking a winning backhand on match point -- a reference to the birth of his third son earlier this month.
His reward for Thursday's efforts is a quarter-final clash with Argentina's David Nalbandian, conqueror of Wimbledon champion Roger Federer earlier on Thursday.