Aisam excels to draw level with Kiwis
Pakistan tennis star Aisamul Haq continued his spectacular Wimbledon form to win his singles match.
KARACHI:
Pakistan tennis star Aisamul Haq continued his spectacular Wimbledon form to win his singles match, resulting in Pakistan drawing 1-1 with hosts New Zealand on the opening day of their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II semi-finals.
The Pakistani ace battled in Hawera’s indoor hard-courts for four hours and 40 minutes to beat New Zealand’s number two Michael Venus 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 15-13 in a cliff-hanger after his teammate Aqeel Khan succumbed to the hosts top player Jose Statham in straight sets.
Aisam, who has been playing non-stop for over three months in his 15th consecutive event of the season, overcame the fatigue factor and took full advantage of his experience to surpass Venus in the marathon encounter.
Showing speed and precision, Aisam won the first set 7-6 (7-2) to take a 1-0 lead which was soon levelled by Venus, who won the second 6-4. Aisam regained the lead by securing the third set comfortably by 6-2, but his advantage was soon undone by the Kiwi who took the penultimate set with a similar score.
The fifth and final set was the real test for Aisam as he faced an aggressive display from Venus who was trying to make the most of a home advantage. He survived four match points to secure a 15-13 victory to Pakistan in the best-of-five encounter that will conclude on Sunday.
“It was a grueling battle but I am happy to survive the Venus scare as we needed the win badly after Aqeel’s loss” Aisam told The Express Tribune after his victory in the singles match.
“Venus was playing his first Davis Cup match, he is young and energetic but I used my experience well to beat him,” Aisam said adding he would try to continue with the same performance for his team despite his fatigue.
Earlier, in the first singles match, Pakistan’s top player in the national rankings, Aqeel Khan succumbed to an easy 4-6, 0-6,0-6 loss to Statham. Statham, who is ranked 390 in the world, took one hour and 40 minutes to win the opening match.
Slow courts
The hard courts placed at the newly-built sports complex in Hawera have came as an unpleasant surprise for Khan and Aisam. Both the players are dissatisfied after their first day of their Davis Cup tie.
“I faced a lot of difficulty on the court, it’s very slow and I have never played on such courts,” said Aisam, adding such kind of courts should not be used for important clashes.
Aqeel showing discontent with the courts said it was favouring the home players.
“The courts are not of high standard. The organisers have just placed them on a basketball court,” said a disgruntled Aisam, who also believes that no Pakistani player has experienced playing on such slow courts.
In addition, he also claimed that Pakistan, who were supposed to host the ongoing tie, were missing the home advantage.
“Losing our host status is costing us dearly. Had this match been held according to the schedule we would have an upper edge but now it’s a very tough task,” said Aisam.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2010.
Pakistan tennis star Aisamul Haq continued his spectacular Wimbledon form to win his singles match, resulting in Pakistan drawing 1-1 with hosts New Zealand on the opening day of their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II semi-finals.
The Pakistani ace battled in Hawera’s indoor hard-courts for four hours and 40 minutes to beat New Zealand’s number two Michael Venus 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 15-13 in a cliff-hanger after his teammate Aqeel Khan succumbed to the hosts top player Jose Statham in straight sets.
Aisam, who has been playing non-stop for over three months in his 15th consecutive event of the season, overcame the fatigue factor and took full advantage of his experience to surpass Venus in the marathon encounter.
Showing speed and precision, Aisam won the first set 7-6 (7-2) to take a 1-0 lead which was soon levelled by Venus, who won the second 6-4. Aisam regained the lead by securing the third set comfortably by 6-2, but his advantage was soon undone by the Kiwi who took the penultimate set with a similar score.
The fifth and final set was the real test for Aisam as he faced an aggressive display from Venus who was trying to make the most of a home advantage. He survived four match points to secure a 15-13 victory to Pakistan in the best-of-five encounter that will conclude on Sunday.
“It was a grueling battle but I am happy to survive the Venus scare as we needed the win badly after Aqeel’s loss” Aisam told The Express Tribune after his victory in the singles match.
“Venus was playing his first Davis Cup match, he is young and energetic but I used my experience well to beat him,” Aisam said adding he would try to continue with the same performance for his team despite his fatigue.
Earlier, in the first singles match, Pakistan’s top player in the national rankings, Aqeel Khan succumbed to an easy 4-6, 0-6,0-6 loss to Statham. Statham, who is ranked 390 in the world, took one hour and 40 minutes to win the opening match.
Slow courts
The hard courts placed at the newly-built sports complex in Hawera have came as an unpleasant surprise for Khan and Aisam. Both the players are dissatisfied after their first day of their Davis Cup tie.
“I faced a lot of difficulty on the court, it’s very slow and I have never played on such courts,” said Aisam, adding such kind of courts should not be used for important clashes.
Aqeel showing discontent with the courts said it was favouring the home players.
“The courts are not of high standard. The organisers have just placed them on a basketball court,” said a disgruntled Aisam, who also believes that no Pakistani player has experienced playing on such slow courts.
In addition, he also claimed that Pakistan, who were supposed to host the ongoing tie, were missing the home advantage.
“Losing our host status is costing us dearly. Had this match been held according to the schedule we would have an upper edge but now it’s a very tough task,” said Aisam.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2010.