Aisam, Rojer out of Toronto Masters

Seventh-seeded duo crash out in third round.

KARACHI: Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Dutch partner Jean-Julien Rojer crashed out of the Toronto Masters, suffering a third-round defeat at the hands of fourth-seeded pair of Robert Linstetd and Horia Tecau 6-2, 3-6, 10-7.

The seventh-seeded duo got a bye in the first round before defeating Jeremy Chardy and Gilles Simon 6-4, 4-6, 13-11 in the second round.

Djokovic through after delay

Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, Novak Djokovic endured a second frustrating day of rain delays with the top-seed defeating fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-1 to reach the final.

Djokovic, who came away empty-handed from the London Olympics, waited out a long rain interruption for the second day in a row as he and fifth-seed Tipsarevic had to pause for 90 minutes in the sixth game of their semi-final.

Djokovic will take a 6-1 record into his final against Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who defeated John Isner 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, with the American later withdrawing from the Cincinnati Masters with a bad back.

“We wanted to play and finish the match tonight,” said world number two Djokovic, “Of course we cannot affect the weather, but it was good to get this match done. (With additional input from AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2012.