Aisamul Haq Qureshi (R) and is partner Netherlands' Jean-Julien Rojer (L) bump fists between points. PHOTO: AFP
Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi is looking forward to breaking his pattern as he reached his first final of the year along with Jean-Julien Rojer at the Open 13 ATP Indoor Championship. The Pak-Dutch duo defeated defending champions Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinal in Marseille, France yesterday.
Aisam and Rojer won against the French pair in an hour and a half and will now face British-Indian pair Colin Fleming and Rohan Bopanna in the final today.
“I’m all set to break the pattern here as I’ve never won any final in the first three months of a year,” Aisam told The Express Tribune. “I’ve got a really good feeling about this match because Rojer and I are in good form.
“So far, my performance in this tournament was unexpected because I was really exhausted after playing the Davis Cup.
“Then I had to play in Rotterdam where we lost, so winning the semi-final is great. Originally we had planned to take this week off, but we played the tournament and now I’m very excited to play against Bopanna too. We played against each other twice last year and it didn’t go my way. Hopefully with this match I could win my first trophy of the year.”
Aisam has played three ATP tournaments since January including the Australian Open but has failed to lift any trophy so far.
His biggest win of the season was the tie against Sri Lanka in the Davis Cup where he won the deciding singles rubber to ensure victory for Pakistan 3-2 earlier this month.
Meanwhile Aisam said that so far despite the defeats, this season was turning out to be better for him compared to last year.
“We are working very hard and winning makes a lot of difference. Last year both of us were distracted due to off-court happenings, but I’m looking forward to this year, and Open 13 has been a motivating tournament.”
Aisam will compete in the Dubai Open next week and will later on fly off to the US for Indian Wells.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2013.
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you are always a winner wish you guys best of luck
Our unsung hero. AISAM is a lot better than some of our cricketers.