Aisam-Rojer crash out in last-16

LONDON: Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Dutch partner Jean-Julien Rojer crashed out of the Wimbledon men’s doubles event after going down to Julien Benneteau and Nenad Zimonjic in a marathon five-setter 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 3-6 yesterday.

The fifth seeds began their third-round match with confidence, taking down France’s Benneteau and Serbia’s Zimonjic 6-3, and continued to dominate in the second set, taking it 6-4.

However, Benneteau and Zimonjic won the following two sets and forced the set into a tie break. The match lasted close to four hours.

This was Aisam’s eighth appearance at Wimbledon — his best run being the 2010 doubles event when he reached the quarter-finals.

Aisam now pins his hopes on the mixed doubles event in which he is paired up with Zimbabwe’s Cara Black. The pair plays their  second-round match against Mark Knowles and Lisicki.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2nd, 2013.

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