Aisam-Rojer exit Rome in second round

Doubles pair suffer another early exit after Madrid loss.

Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Dutch doubles partner Jean-Julien Rojer were sent packing from the Rome Masters, after the pair went down to Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 yesterday.

Aisam and Rojer, who got a bye in the first round, put up a fight against the Czech pair before losing in over an hour and 20 minutes.

Aisam, ranked fourth in the individual doubles ranking, and Rojer, placed sixth, crashed out of the second round at the Madrid Masters last week.

Djokovic into quarters

In the men’s singles draw, top-seed Novak Djokovic played without ankle pain in a routine 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Alexandr Dolgopolov for a quarter-final place at the Rome Masters, and then spared a thought for the injury plight of rival Andy Murray.

Djokovic dispatched Dolgopolov in an hour, with five aces and 13 winners in a contest which began 45 minutes late due to morning rain.



The two-time Rome champion will play Czech Berdych, a winner over South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-2, in the last-eight.

Djokovic said that he had almost forgotten about his ankle injury since winning the title in Monte Carlo over Rafael Nadal last month while carrying the problem.

“I’ve been pain-free for a week but I’m still very cautious in my warm-up and recovery. I want to do the best for it as possible. I don’t think it will bother me any more and I don’t think about it when I’m on the court.”

That was not the case for Murray, though.

The Scot is on the verge of withdrawing from the French Open starting a week from Sunday after quitting his opening match in Rome with the chronic back pain which has bothered him for almost 18 months.

Djokovic, a few seasons ago known as injury-prone, is now an iron man who stands atop the world rankings. His most recent niggle, the ankle problem from early April, is now a thing of the past, according to the 25-year-old Serb.

Djokovic said that he is sorry to hear of the plight of Murray.

“That is not the kind of news you want on your birthday,” he said of Murray, one week his elder, who turned 26 on Wednesday. “It would be a pity if he doesn’t play.

“He’s one of the top players, it is a loss for any tournament for him to be missing. I don’t know the level of his injury, he is the best one to know how he feels.

In the women’s draw, world number one Serena Williams comfortably made the quarter-finals with a 6-0, 6-1 mauling of Slovakia’s 14th-seed Dominika Cibulkova.

Williams will face Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro. Unseeded two-time Foro Italico champion Jelena Jankovic upset 2011 Roland Garros winner Li Na, the Chinese fifth seed, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2013.