Aisam, Rojer bag Gerry Weber Open

KARACHI: Aisamul Haq Qureshi successfully defended his Gerry Weber Open men’s doubles title as the Pakistan tennis ace and his Dutch partner Jean-Julien Rojer downed Americans Americans Treat Huey and Scott Lipsky 6-3, 6-4 in Halle.

Aisam – who won last year’s title with Indian Rohan Bopanna – and Rojer, the tournament’s top seeds, never looked in trouble, easily dispatching off their opponents in quick time.

The win marked Aisam’s second doubles title of the year after he also won the Estoril Open with Rojer in May.

‘I've proved my critics wrong’

Aisam, who lost the French Open semi-finals partnering Rojer, was pleased with the win. “Many people thought that my win was a fluke last year,” Aisam told The Express Tribune. “It’s all come together and I’m very excited because it has just reaffirmed our confidence. Switching from clay to grass was difficult and I was feeling the pressure but we did well.

“This win proves that I’m good enough. Both Rojer and I have continued the momentum we started in Estoril, then to the French open and now in Halle. I’m sure I’ll be able to improve my rankings by the time the US Open starts.”

Meanwhile, Aisam added that his next campaign starts on Tuesday in the Netherlands, the home turf of Rojer. “He wanted to play at home and since he requested, I’m all geared up for it. It’s going to be good preparation for Wimbledon.”

Wildcard Haas beats Federer

In the men’s singles final, Germany's Tommy Haas recorded an upset win over second-seed Roger Federer 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to become the ATP's second oldest champion.

Playing in front of his home fans, the 34-year-old wildcard added to his triumph at the same venue three years ago to take his 13th ATP title.

Swiss great Federer, the second seed, was seeking a sixth win at this Wimbledon warm-up event having booked his seventh final ticket with a straight sets win over unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

Haas, a former world number two, secured his place in the climax with a defeat of compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber.

After claiming the title, Haas said, “This has been one of the best weeks of my career, but I reckon I won't really appreciate what's happened until this evening.

“If someone had said to me beforehand that I was going to beat Roger Federer, probably the best player of all time, I would have thought they were mad.”

Federer was magnanimous in defeat. “Tommy has performed well throughout, I'm thrilled for him,” said the Swiss. (With additional input from afp)

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2012.