‘Home ties ought to be played at home’

Pakistan tennis stars lament the absence of Davis Cup ties in country.

KARACHI: Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and domestic top player Aqeel Khan, who are representing the country in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone II tie against Sri Lanka, said the sport cannot succeed and the people will not take tennis seriously unless these ties take place in the country.

Pakistan has been playing their Davis Cup ties abroad since 2010 and the players said that the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) reservations over security and the consequent move of forcing the country to play its home ties away has taken away the confidence and the surface advantage from the players.

Aisam and Aqeel have been playing the Davis Cup for Pakistan as main players for a decade now, and the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) still relies solely on these two players.

“The people will only see the importance of these matches when they see it and experience it themselves,” Aisam told The Express Tribune. “It’s a disadvantage for us; we have to compromise because the ITF will not allow other teams to come to Pakistan due to security concerns. Because of this, we haven’t been able to play on grass in a long time now. And if we skip any of our home ties the other team will get a bye, so we have to compromise each time and the PTF is not doing enough to deal with it.”

Pakistan will be playing in Sri Lanka from tomorrow on the red clay which is a tough surface for the players.

Pakistan played their last tie in Lahore against Hong Kong in 2010 after 2005 and they won it. Since then, they have played all of their ties abroad.

Meanwhile, PTF officials said the federation is trying to convince the ITF about the Davis Cup ties, but they have not received any positive answer. Therefore, they plan to start pitching for the juniors international events in the country and then present the case before the ITF.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2013.