Aisam-Rojer claim Stockholm title in style

Top-seeded pair wins in straight sets to clinch second honour of the year.

KARACHI: Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi won his second ATP title with his Dutch partner Jean-Julien Rojer at the Stockholm Open yesterday.

The top seeds outclassed Swedish pair Robert Lindstedt and Jonas Bjorkman in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.

Aisam and Rojer only took an hour and three minutes to finish the job to grab 250 points from the win.

Aisam said that the Stockholm victory will go long way in helping him achieve his aim of ending the year among the top eight teams in the world to play the London Masters in December.

“It feels great to win your second title of the year,” Aisam told The Express Tribune. “We had lost two finals earlier this year, so this win was very important. This was the best match of the week. We were playing against the local favourites, so we had to play our best tennis.”

Stockholm Open has been one of the better tournaments for Aisam, having won the title with India’s Rohan Bopanna in 2011 and reaching the semi-finals with Rojer last year.

“We want to play the London Masters and this win took us one step closer to it. The victory will also send out a strong message to other doubles teams as well before the Basel Open [starting next week]. Hopefully we’ll carry on with the momentum now.”

Aisam added that Stockholm this year was an emotional experience and the title win justified his decision to play the event instead of taking a break last week.

“I had told Rojer that I would take a break for a week, that was my original plan, but it wouldn’t have been fair to him or my coach to miss this crucial week ahead of the London Masters when every team is in the running to finish the year in the top eight.

“The win is also my Eid present to Pakistan and I dedicate it to my cousin Mobin Riaz, whose wedding I had to miss.

“Missing out on Eid with my family and the wedding just killed me, but the victory here just means that one has to sacrifice in order to achieve something.”

Earlier, Aisam and Rojer won the Miami Masters, which was also their careers’ first ATP 1000 title.

Aisam and Rojer are currently ranked number seven in the ATP standings.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2013.

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