Aisam, Bopanna through to Sydney quarters

Pakistan tennis star Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna from India coasted to a straight-sets win in the opening round of the Medibank International Sydney tournament.

Aisam and Bopanna defeated Carsten Ball from the US and Marinko Matosevic of Bosnia-Herzegovina 6-2, 6-3.

The Indo-Pak Express, who are unseeded in the event, hit just a single ace compared to their opponents’ four but nevertheless registered an easy win as they saved all their break points and won 55 out of 91 points. The duo will now face the unseeded French pair Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Juan Martin del Potro toiled for over three hours before subduing Feliciano Lopez in his first tour match for almost a year. The Argentine, who downed Roger Federer in the 2009 US Open final, got just the workout he needed when he ousted the 32nd-ranked Spaniard, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (11/9), 7-6 (7/3) in a first round match. AFP

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2011.