“It’s not just my first title of the year, but also my first ATP 500 title of the career,” Aisam told The Express Tribune. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi won the first ATP 500 title of his career on Saturday, the Lahore born teamed up with India’s Rohan Bopanna to annex the doubles title in a one-sided final.
The Indo-Pak Express defeated top seeds Canada’s Daniel Nestor and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour.
Aisam and Bopanna were seeded second in the tournament; they combined well in the final to tame their opponents Tomasz Bednarek and Lukas Dlouhy 6-2, 6-0 in the semi-final.
“It’s not just my first title of the year, but also my first ATP 500 title of the career,” Aisam told The Express Tribune.
“This has a different meaning altogether. I’ve won ATP 250, ATP 1000 title and now I’ve also won the 500 event. It feels great especially playing in Dubai, where we have so many fans cheering for us.
There were Pakistani and Indian fans. I saw so many Pakistani flags in the crowd and it was overall a great experience.”
Aisam and Bopanna had also reached the final of the Sydney Open in January, where they lost to Nestor and Zimonjic.
“We played our best tennis and we are working hard. Even in Sydney I had a feeling that we were a better team. We fnaly defeated them with aggressive play and it paid off,” said Aisam.
Aisam added that he is working hard on his game with Bopanna. The 33-year-old will be returning to Lahore for a day, after which he will leave for Indian Wells.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2014.
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