Tennis player Mahin all set for Junior Fed Cup

13-year-old aiming for Grand Slam title within three years.

KARACHI: Teenager Mahin Aftab, who became the first Pakistani to win a girl’s singles title in Vietnam last month, is currently Pakistan’s main hope in international women’s tennis.

Thirteen-year-old Mahin is now set to represent the country at the Junior Fed Cup along with her sister Alina Aftab, who is 15. Moreover, she is the only Pakistani to be selected by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to perform as a part of Asian Team in the ITF U14 team championship in Thailand next month.

One of Mahin’s goals is to win a Grand Slam title and enter the Women’s Tennis Association circuit in the next three years.

“I want to win a Grand Slam in three years,” Mahin told The Express Tribune. “It was good to win the ITF tournament last month, but I want to play like Rafael Nadal, and my favourite female player is Steffi Graf.”

The teenager started playing tennis when she was eight years old in Lahore, but her most useful training took place in Barcelona in 2012 and 2014. “I reached the U16 semi-finals in Barcelona, that’s the most memorable moment of my career,” she said.

Her father, Aftab Qureshi, said that it is extremely expensive and challenging to prepare Mahin and Alina as there is no infrastructure for women’s tennis in Pakistan.

“I wanted my girls to play a sport where they aren’t dependent on boards and federations,” said Aftab. “The Barcelona tennis academy wanted to retain them, but I told them that my daughters will only represent Pakistan.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th,  2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.