Tennis: Aisam, Rojer crash out of Rotterdam
Duo lose quarter-final clash 7-6, 6-4 to Llodra, Zimonjic.
Pakistan's Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Dutch partner Jean-Julien Rojer were beaten in the doubles quarter-finals at the ATP Rotterdam Open, losing to second-seeds Michael Llodra of France and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic 7-6, 6-4.
Despite giving their opponents a tough fight, Aisam and Rojer were outplayed. Llodra and Zimonjic, finalists at the ATP World Tour 500 event last year, won 86% of their first-serve points and converted both their break-point opportunities to win in one hour and 32 minutes.
Earlier, Aisam and Rojer beat Frechman Richard Gasquet and Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic 7-6, 6-1 in the pre-quarterfinals. In a tense opening set, the duo held their nerves before outclassing their opponents in the second. However, they could not produce a repeat performance in the last-eight.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2012.