Aisam, Rojer crash out in 1st round

Pair loses to Berdych, Zimonjix in Japan Open.

KARACHI: Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer crashed out of the Japan Open after losing to the unseeded pair Tomas Berdych and Nenad Zimonjic 7-6, 6-3 in the first round yesterday.

This was the duo’s first tournament after the US Open where it lost to Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the semi-final. Aisam’s ATP ranking has dropped to 13 but the Pakistani is hopeful of making the cut for the London Masters in December which comprises the top eight in the world.

In the singles event, Olympic gold medallist Andy Murray stood firm in his service game to beat Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 in the first round. The 25-year-old defending champion came back to court after winning the US Open last month and did not face a single break point in his victory. In the second round, the Briton will take on Lukas Lacko of Slovakia, who defeated Albert Ramos.

In other matches, Milos Raonic coasted to a solid 6-4, 6-4 win over Radek Stepanek while Kei Nishikori defeated fellow Japanese Davis Cup teammate Go Soeda 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Dmitry Tursunov of Russia downed Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-4, 7-5 and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus defeated Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-6 (7/3), 7-5. (WITH ADDITIONAL INFO FROM AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2012.