KARACHI:
Pakistan ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Dutch partner Jean-Julian Rojer were defeated by the Indian pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupatti 7-6, 6-3 in the doubles final of the Paris Masters yesterday.
The Indian duo only took an hour and 26 minutes to seal the match and win their second Masters title of the year.
Despite the defeat, Aisam expressed satisfaction and said that qualifying for the ATP World Tour was his main aim. Aisam will participate in the ATP World Tour for the second time in a row, which he believes is his biggest achievement of the year.
“Making it to the London Masters was my aim for the year and I have achieved it,” Aisam told The Express Tribune. “It’s my second year in the ATP London Masters. The top eight teams are competing and I have proved my worth. It was with Bopanna last year and this time around Rojer will get to play his first World Tour so I am excited for both of us.”
Aisam and Rojer will make their team debut as the sixth seeds in the tournament.
In the singles final, David Ferrer downed Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 6-3 to claim the title.
Murray eyes Tour Finals win to cap glorious year
Meanwhile, Andy Murray has set his sights on capping a glorious year by winning the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena.
Murray will return to play in front of a British audience for the first time since his US Open breakthrough and he is keen win one more title.
“There’s always pressure at all of the major tournaments you play but I feel a little bit more relaxed coming in this year than I have in previous years because I managed to win the US Open,” said Murray. “The only thing I can guarantee is that I’ll give 110 percent on the court and fight as hard as I can until the end of all the matches and see where that gets me. Against all the guys here you’re going to have to play a top-quality match to win.”
The tournament usually features the top eight players in the world rankings, although reigning French Open champion Rafael Nadal is continuing his recovery from a knee injury, handing Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic a place in the draw.
Murray is in Group A along with Djokovic, Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and it is Berdych who will be Murray’s first opponent today.
Defending champion Federer, who will lose the number one ranking to Djokovic today, takes on Tipsarevic, Spain’s David Ferrer and former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in Group B. (WITH ADDITIONAL INFO FROM AFP)
Murray
“The only thing I can guarantee is that I’ll give 110 percent on the court, fight as hard as I can until the end of all the matches and see where that gets me.”
Aisam
“Making it to the London Masters was my aim for the year and I have achieved it. This is the first time I will play the tournament with Rojer, so I am excited for both of us.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 5th, 2012.
COMMENTS (4)
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Also it seems like mental block against India is creeping in other sports too. First it was only Cricket WC, Kabaddi and Kushti.
So i was Aisam who was holding back Bopanna's career. Bopanna is very underrated and Aisam is a bit too much over rated in Pakistan.
Aisam is pride of the country! Well-done! What you have achieved so far is unbelievable!
Great show by Indians. Keep it up