"Having been through that awful experience, I know I never want to have to deal with it again and that's why I have put the hard work in and now feel full of confidence going into this match.
"I have had a good career already, but I am nowhere near finished and I know that everyone on the tour fears my serve when it's working properly."
It was the Rusedski serve, which has reached a world record-equalling 149mph, that was so poor at the US Open. It needs to be firing on all cylinders against El Aynaoui today.
A five-hour marathon with Andy Roddick at the Australian Open raised the Moroccan's profile.
He was also in great form at Wimbledon and the US Open to consolidate his ranking inside the world's top 20.
That puts him light years ahead of Rusedski in terms of ranking and confidence and if the British left-hander does emerge victorious, it will be one of his greatest career wins.
Before Rusedski gets his chance to prove the doubters wrong, Tim Henman will play Hicham Arazi, who has just two victories in 10 meetings with the British No1.
Henman believes past results count for nothing when it comes to the Davis Cup and he also needs to recapture previous form, most notably that which inspired the brilliant Cup victory against Thailand.
.jpeg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=320&crop=8:5,smart)