Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (
Punjabi, ; born 17 Mar 1980) is a
Pakistani professional
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player who specialises in doubles. He is the only Pakistani player ever to reach a
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
final, having done so in both men's and mixed doubles at the
2010 US Open, alongside
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
and
Květa Peschke
Květoslava Peschke (née Hrdličková; born 9 July 1975) is a Czech retired professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
She reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 26 in November 2005, winning one WTA singles title ...
respectively. Qureshi has also reached seven further major semifinals across the two disciplines. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 8 in June 2011, and has won 18 titles on the
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...
, including the
2011 Paris Masters and
2013 Miami Open, with Bopanna and
Jean-Julien Rojer
Jean-Julien Rojer (; ; born 25 August 1981) is a Dutch professional tennis player from Curaçao, who specialises in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in November 2015.
He is a four-time Grand Slam champion, hav ...
respectively. Qureshi has also qualified for the
ATP Finals in doubles on three occasions.
In singles, he reached his highest ranking of world No. 125 in December 2007, and achieved his best Grand Slam result at the
Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
that year, reaching the second round. Qureshi is also the most successful
Davis Cup player in Pakistan's history, with the team most notably reaching the World Group Play-offs in
2005, being defeated by
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
. He has played in the competition since
1998, and has won more matches for Pakistan than any other player, additionally being appointed captain of the team in 2022. Qureshi and
Aqeel Khan
Aqeel Khan (born 30 January 1980, in Karachi) is a Pakistani tennis player. He is the current Pakistani number one and National Champion. His favourite surface is Grass. He is coached by Pakistani tennis coach Jamil Khan, who is his fa ...
have regularly spearheaded Pakistan's Davis Cup campaigns, partnering each other in doubles and also competing in singles matches.
Early life
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi was born in a
Punjabi family and grew up in
Lahore, Pakistan; swimming, playing cricket and football being his favorite pastimes at his alma-mater
Crescent Model Higher Secondary School
Crescent Model Higher Secondary School is an old educational institution in Lahore, Pakistan from Montessori School to Higher Secondary Level. The school is run by a private trust. It offers 'O' and 'A' level programs along with the Pakistan Ma ...
. He started playing tennis late at age of 14, when his maternal grandfather and first coach,
Khawaja Iftikhar Ahmed, a former 10-time national champion, took him to a tennis club in
Model Town, Lahore
Model Town Society ( Punjabi, ur, ) is a gated neighbourhood in Gulberg, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
History
Model Town, established in 1921, is a fruition of Dewan Khem Chand's lifelong dream to see the establishment of what he called “ ...
.
His maternal grandfather, Khawaja Iftikhar Ahmed, was the All-India champion, in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
before
Pakistan's Independence in 1947. His mother, Nosheen Ihtsham, was also a former women's tennis champion. At age 16, the
ITF sponsored him for two years. He won the Pakistan International Junior Championships and went on to win the Casablanca Cup in Mexico and the LTA International Junior Championships in Roehampton, where he beat
Olivier Rochus
Olivier Rochus (; born 18 January 1981) is a retired Belgian tennis player. He is the younger brother of Christophe Rochus, also a former top-40 tennis player.
Rochus won two singles titles in his career and in 2004 won the French Open doubles ...
,
Andy Ram
Andreas "Andy" Ram ( he, אנדי רם; born April 10, 1980) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player. He was primarily a doubles player, and competed in three Olympics.
He is the first Israeli tennis player to win a senior Grand Slam ...
, and
Taylor Dent
Taylor Phillip Dent (born April 24, 1981) is a retired professional tennis player from the United States. He reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 21, winning 4 singles titles.
Career
Early career and back injury
Dent won ATP tit ...
. In the World Super Junior Championships, he beat
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...
. By 18, he was a top-20 junior player and decided to turn pro.
Aisam was educated at the
University of Punjab
The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...
.
Coaches
As a junior, he was coached by LTA. Aisam has been coached by American Robert Davis since 1998. Robert Davis has served as national coach for Peru, Panama, Thailand, and Indonesia. As a writer, he contributes to the ATP's ''Deuce Magazine'', ''Tennis Magazine USA'', tennis.com, ''Tennis Magazine Australia'', and ITF publications, as well as non-sporting publications and newspapers.
Playing style
Qureshi prefers the quicker grass courts and has had seen his greatest success on grass and hard courts. His playing style is
serve-and-volley
Serve-and-volley is a style of play in tennis where the player serving moves quickly towards the net after hitting a serve, to attempt to hit a volley afterwards. In the serve-and-volley playstyle, the server attempts to hit a volley (a shot whe ...
, relying on his serve to win him points by putting pressure on his opponents.
Sponsorship
Qureshi's clothing and shoes sponsor is
Lotto Lotto may refer to:
* Lotto, original, 15th century name of the Italian lottery
* Lotto (Milan Metro), a railway station in Milan, Italy
* Lotto carpet, a carpet having a lacy arabesque pattern
* Lotto Sport Italia, an Italian sports apparel manu ...
. On 29 March 2008, Aisam signed an agreement with
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961.
History
Pepsi was ...
for sponsorship of coach for one year. He became the first Pakistani sportsman who wasn't a cricketer to star in a Pepsi advert and become one of their brand ambassadors.
Awards and accolades
Qureshi teamed with Israeli player
Amir Hadad
Amir Hadad (Hebrew: אמיר חדד, born 17 February 1978) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player.
His highest singles ATP ranking was World No. 180, achieved in April 2003, and his highest doubles ranking was No. 87, achieved in Ma ...
during
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
and the
US Open tournaments in 2002. He is now a member of the "Champions for Peace" club, a group of 54 athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by
Peace and Sport
Peace and Sport, also known as "L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport" is a neutral and independent organization based in the Principality of Monaco and under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Peace and Sport work in areas acros ...
, a
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
-based international organisation.
In November 2010 Aisam was appointed
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) goodwill ambassador.
Aisam was awarded the
Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year, for 2010 along with his doubles tennis partner
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
of India. Along with Bopanna, Qureshi received the 2010 "Peace and Sport Image of the Year" award, in recognition of their dedicated efforts to spread the message of peace through sport. Qureshi and his doubles partner Bopanna also created a campaign, "Stop War Start Tennis", with their goal to play a match on the border of India and Pakistan.
He was also given the Pakistan President's Award for Performance in 2002, the Salam Pakistan Youth Award by the President of Pakistan in 2007 and was runner-up for the 2003 Anne Frank Award For Moral Courage by the Anne Frank Trust, UK.
In 2011, he was awarded
Lux Style Award
The Lux Style Awards is an award ceremony held annually in Pakistan since 2002. The awards celebrate "style" in the Pakistani entertainment industry, and it is the oldest event dedicated to cinema, television, fashion, music and film industry ...
for Most Stylish Sports Person. Being high-profile tennis star of Pakistan and alumni, he was invited to
Crescent Model Higher Secondary School
Crescent Model Higher Secondary School is an old educational institution in Lahore, Pakistan from Montessori School to Higher Secondary Level. The school is run by a private trust. It offers 'O' and 'A' level programs along with the Pakistan Ma ...
for ground breaking ceremony of Tennis courts in school.
Career
Juniors
Qureshi played his first junior match in August 1995 at the age of 15 at a grade 5 tournament in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
had a successful career in
junior tennis
Junior tennis refers to tennis matches where the participants are aged 18 and under. Eligibility to compete in International Tennis Federation Junior tournaments is not based on age, but year of birth: as a result, some players must move out of ju ...
, finishing no. 7 in the world in 1998, which made him Pakistan's highest-ranked player ever on the international youth tennis arena. Qureshi turned pro in 1998.
Junior Grand Slam results - Singles:
Australian Open: 1R (1997, 1998)
French Open: 2R (
1998)
Wimbledon: 3R (
1998)
US Open: 1R (1997, 1998)
Junior Grand Slam results - Doubles:
Australian Open: QF (1998)
French Open: QF (
1998)
Wimbledon: QF (
1998)
US Open: QF (1998)
1998
On 25 September, he played and won his first Davis Cup match against
Danai Udomchoke
Danai Udomchoke ( th, ดนัย อุดมโชค, born 11 August 1981) is a former professional tennis player from Thailand. He was born in Bangkok, where he still resides.
Udomchoke turned professional in 1997, and was coached by Jan ...
. Paired with
Mohamed-Khaliq Siddiq, he won the doubles match. They helped Pakistan beat Thailand 3–2 for the Asia/Oceania Zone Group II Final and gained promotion to Group I.
On 28 September, he played his first pro match and got into the doubles final of a Futures tournament in Japan. His singles career also started well, getting into two Futures quarterfinals in Pakistan and Japan, and ended the year ranked no. 779.
1999
Aisam made it into the quarterfinals of his first Challenger tournament in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, but lost to Indian
Leander Paes
Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players ever. He holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men's ...
. At the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I quarterfinal match against Uzbekistan, Pakistan lost 4–1, with Aisam winning the only rubber. Paired with
Dmitri Tomashevich
Dmitri Tomashevich (Дмитрий Томашевич; born 6 March 1974) is a former tennis player from Uzbekistan, who represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was defeated in the first round by Sl ...
, he won two doubles Futures titles in Turkey.
In the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania I Relegation Play-off final, China defeated Pakistan 3–0, which saw them relegated back to Group II. In October, Qureshi went on to win his first Futures singles tournament on the hard courts of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, beating
Danai Udomchoke
Danai Udomchoke ( th, ดนัย อุดมโชค, born 11 August 1981) is a former professional tennis player from Thailand. He was born in Bangkok, where he still resides.
Udomchoke turned professional in 1997, and was coached by Jan ...
. In Vietnam, Aisam won a doubles Futures title with
Mark Nielsen. This was followed up by another singles Futures win in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
on clay, winning in straight sets. Aisam ended the year ranked no. 365 in singles, and no. 355 in doubles.
2000
In January, he took Pakistan to a 3–2 victory against Hong Kong Asia/Oceania Group II quarter-final. Aisam then began to compete in more on the Challenger circuit, reaching the semi-finals at the Indian Oil Servo Cup in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
in February, defeated by Tuomas Ketola. At the Davis Cup Group II semi-final Pakistan were beaten by Chinese Taipei 3–2, with Aisam winning two of his three rubbers. In May, paired with
Dmitri Tomashevich
Dmitri Tomashevich (Дмитрий Томашевич; born 6 March 1974) is a former tennis player from Uzbekistan, who represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was defeated in the first round by Sl ...
, he reached the semis of the Samarkand Challenger in
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
, Uzbekistan. At The LTA Manchester Challenger, in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, UK, Aisam made it to the semi-finals with partner
Jamie Delgado
Jamie Delgado (born 21 March 1977) is a British tennis coach and former professional player. Delgado has represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup, most recently in 2006.
Delgado holds the all-time male record for playing in consecutive Wimb ...
.
In July, he took part at the Ted Open, at Istanbul, Turkey, where he made it to the quarter-finals, but was beaten by
Oleg Ogorodov
Oleg Ogorodov (Олег Огородов; born 16 July 1972) is a former tennis player, who turned professional in 1995. He represented Uzbekistan at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. His career high singles rank came on May 13, 1996, ...
4–6, 7–5, 6–3. Returning to the UK, he played at the LTA Men's Challenger in
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
, where he, along with Italian
Daniele Bracciali
Daniele Bracciali (; born 10 January 1978) is an Italian former tennis player, best ranked world no. 21 in doubles. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world no. 49, achieved in May 2006. In doubles, he reached the semifinals of the 2012 Frenc ...
, won in the final 6–4, 6–2. With that Aisam also won his first Challenger doubles title.
He won a futures doubles title in France with Israeli
Noam Behr
Noam Behr ( he, נועם בר; born 13 October 1975) is an Israeli professional tennis player who turned pro in 1994.
His career-high singles ranking was No. 127 (October 2001), and his career-high doubles ranking was No. 109 (October 1999).
T ...
. Together, they participated at the Bukhara Challenger, in
Bukhara
Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...
, Uzbekistan, where they reached the final. Aisam won a futures single title in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, beating
Jaroslav Levinský
Jaroslav Levinský (born 11 February 1981) is a professional doubles tennis player from the Czech Republic.
Levinsky reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 239, achieved on 23 September 2002. He also reached a career-high doubles r ...
3–6, 6–2, 6–3, and at the same tournament won a doubles title with Ashley Fisher. Aisam ended the year winning at the Neride Prague Indoor in Prague, Czech Republic where he partnered
Kristian Pless.
He finished the year 2000 ranked 261st in singles and 211th in doubles.
2001
Aisam participated in his first ATP tournament at the
Chennai Open
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, India, with his partner Vadim Kutsenko of Uzbekistan. They won against Czech pair
Petr Kovačka
Petr Kovačka (born 23 December 1971) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. He used to coach Barbora Krejčíková.
Biography
Kovačka toured as a doubles specialist and played most of his matches alongside countryman ...
and
Pavel Kudrnáč 6–1, 6–7
(3), 6–4. However they were knocked out by Zimbabweans
Byron Black and
Wayne Black
Wayne Hamilton Black (born 17 November 1973) is a former professional tennis player from Zimbabwe. The son of former player Don Black, Black turned professional in 1994 and reached his highest singles ranking of 69 on 30 March 1998. He is the y ...
2–6, 0–6. At the Davis Cup he was unable to help Pakistan as they lost to Chinese Taipei at the Asia/Oceania Group II quarter-final 3–2. He went to
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, India to play in the MTNL ATP Challenger where he reached the doubles semi-final with Dennis van Scheppingen. At the Heineken Challenger in
Ho Chi Minh City
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
, Vietnam, he again made it to the doubles semis, this time paired with
Denis Golovanov.
In April at the Davis Cup Relegation Play-off semi-final, he helped Pakistan defeat Syria 5–0. The Fergana Challenger, in
Fergana
Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...
, Uzbekistan, still with Golovanov, they made it to the semi-finals but failed again to progress further. In the UK, he played at The Wrexham Challenger in Wrexham; he progressed to the singles semi-final but was knocked out by
Ladislav Švarc
Ladislav Švarc (born 13 November 1978) is a former professional tennis player from Slovakia.
Švarc competed in the main singles draw of the 2001 Australian Open, as a qualifier. He lost a four set match to Rainer Schüttler in the opening round ...
2–6, 6–2, 6–3. Although he did reach his first Challenger level doubles final of the year, now with new partner
Luke Bourgeois
Luke Bourgeois (born 3 March 1977) is a former professional tennis player from Australia.
Career
Bourgeois, who is the youngest of 10 siblings, won the boys' doubles title at the 1995 Australian Open, with Lee Jong-min. They defeated German ...
they fell at the final hurdle.
Asiam returned to
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
to take part in the Samarkand Challenger in
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
, where he made it to the quarter-finals in the singles, and with partner
Kirill Ivanov-Smolensky, the doubles semi-final. He stayed in Uzbekistan to play at the Bukhara Challenger, in
Bukhara
Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...
and with his Dutch partner Rogier Wassen, they won the final 6–2, 6–4.
He won a single futures title in
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, beating
Yeu-Tzuoo Wang 6–4, 4–6, 7–5. This followed a second in Vietnam against
Yen-Hsun Lu
Lu Yen-hsun (; born 14 August 1983) is a Taiwanese retired professional tennis player, who goes by the nickname Rendy Lu.
He won the most titles on the ATP Challenger Tour in tennis history. His favorite surface is hardcourt, though several of ...
. He rounded off the year with a doubles challenger title with
Jaroslav Levinský
Jaroslav Levinský (born 11 February 1981) is a professional doubles tennis player from the Czech Republic.
Levinsky reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 239, achieved on 23 September 2002. He also reached a career-high doubles r ...
at the 69th King's Cup in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
, Thailand. Aisam ended the year ranked 251st in singles and 170th in doubles.
2002
In February at the Davis Cup, he won both matches, as Pakistan beat Malaysia 4–1. In the next Davis Cup tie against Chinese Taipei, he won all three rubbers as Pakistan qualified for the Asia/Oceania Group II final. Aisam won a doubles futures title in
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
with
Tuomas Ketola
Tuomas Ketola (born 21 February 1975) is a Finnish former professional tennis player on the ATP Tour.
Career
Ketola was the number two tennis player in Finland behind Jarkko Nieminen and reached a career high doubles ranking of 76 on October 19 ...
. At the Fergana Challenger, in
Fergana
Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...
, Uzbekistan, he and Ketola were unable win in the doubles final.
Asiam qualified for his first Grand Slam at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
with doubles partner
Amir Hadad
Amir Hadad (Hebrew: אמיר חדד, born 17 February 1978) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player.
His highest singles ATP ranking was World No. 180, achieved in April 2003, and his highest doubles ranking was No. 87, achieved in Ma ...
. This pairing cause much controversy. In the first round they beat
Martín Rodríguez and
Tom Vanhoudt
Tom Vanhoudt (born 28 July 1972, in Diest, Flemish Brabant), is a former professional tennis player from Belgium.
Vanhoudt achieved a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 36 in 2001. He participated in 9 Davis Cup ties for Belgium
Be ...
7–5, 7–6
(5), 7–6
(2). In the second round, the Pakistani-Israeli pairing caused an upset when they knocked out 11th seeds
Ellis Ferreira
Ellis Ferreira (born 19 February 1970) is a former professional male tennis player from South Africa. He played collegiately at the University of Alabama, earning all-SEC and all-American honors. Ferreira competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in ...
and
Rick Leach
Rick Leach (born December 28, 1964) is a former professional tennis player and a coach from the United States. A doubles specialist, he won five Grand Slam doubles titles (three at the Australian Open, one at Wimbledon, and one at the US Ope ...
6–4, 6–4 6–4 to make it to the third round. They were finally beaten by seventh seed Czechs
Martin Damm
Martin Damm Sr. (born 1 August 1972) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. He is best known as a doubles player (his highest ranking being No. 5 in the world in April 2007). His highest singles ranking was No. 42 in A ...
and
Cyril Suk
Cyril Suk III (born 29 January 1967) is a former professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, Suk won five Grand Slam titles, one men's doubles and four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles and 32 ATP Tour doubles titles during his career.
Ea ...
. Aisam was threatened with expulsion from the Davis Cup by the Pakistan Tennis Federation. Although Aisam did have support from Pakistan's Davis Cup captain. Aisam said, "I don't like religion or politics to interfere with sport. We're not here to change anything – politics and governments do that. We're just here to play the game and enjoy it." The ITF eventually intervened, forcing the PTF to rescind their threat.
At the West of England Tennis tournament in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, UK, he won his first Challenger doubles title of the season with Dejan Petrovic. Next, at The Manchester Trophy in Manchester, UK, he won the doubles title with
Karol Beck
Karol Beck (born 3 April 1982) is a male former tennis player from Slovakia, who turned professional in 2001. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 36, achieved in August 2005. Beck reached the fourth round of the 2004 US Open and the qu ...
, although he was beaten by Beck in the singles semi-final. Asiam took his third doubles challenger title in a row when with
Stefano Pescosolido he took the Hilversum Open title in
Hilversum
Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...
, Netherlands. In July at
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
, UK in the Wrexham Challenger, his doubles winning streak was broken when he lost the final with
Daniele Bracciali
Daniele Bracciali (; born 10 January 1978) is an Italian former tennis player, best ranked world no. 21 in doubles. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world no. 49, achieved in May 2006. In doubles, he reached the semifinals of the 2012 Frenc ...
. He also reached the single quarter-finals.
He partnered Hadad again at the
US Open, where they defeated
Mariano Hood
Mariano Hood (born 14 August 1973) is a retired left-handed professional Argentine tennis player who specialized in doubles.
In his career, Hood won 13 out of the 26 top level doubles finals he was in. He turned professional in 1993, and curren ...
and
Sebastián Prieto 6–4, 6–2 in the first round. In the second round they faced fifth seeds Wayne Black and
Kevin Ullyett
Kevin Ullyett (born 23 May 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Zimbabwe. His primary success on the tour was in men's doubles.
Ullyett won 34 doubles titles during his career, including two Grand Slams at the 2001 US Open and t ...
losing 4–6, 6–4, 2–6. In September, Aisam returned to Davis Cup action when Pakistan overcame China 3–2 to be promoted to Asia/Oceania Group I. However, he picked up an injury and missed the rest of the season. Despite this, Aisam ended the season ranked 265th in singles and 102nd in doubles.
2003
Aisam and
Amir Hadad
Amir Hadad (Hebrew: אמיר חדד, born 17 February 1978) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player.
His highest singles ATP ranking was World No. 180, achieved in April 2003, and his highest doubles ranking was No. 87, achieved in Ma ...
picked up the ATP's Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award. ATP chief executive Mark Miles said, "During a summer when fear and hatred garnered much of the headlines, Amir and Aisam-ul-Haq provided much needed relief with their simple message about tolerance through tennis." Aisam, partnering Hadad, participated at the
Milan Indoor
The Milan Indoor, also known under various sponsored names, was a men's professional tennis tournament held from 1978 until 2005. It took placed in Milan, Italy with the exception of three years (1998–2000) when it was held in London, United Kin ...
in Milan, Italy, where they were knocked out of the first round by third seeds
Tomáš Cibulec
Tomáš Cibulec (born 15 January 1978) is a retired Czech tennis player who turned professional in 1996. Cibulec reached his highest singles ranking on 3 August 1998, becoming world number 646. His career-high ranking of world number 21, he reac ...
and
Pavel Vízner
Pavel Vízner (born 15 July 1970) is a retired professional male tennis player from the Czech Republic. Vízner has reached the French Open final twice, having had turned professional in 1990 and achieved a career high doubles ranking of World ...
, 6–7
(8), 1–6. At the Asia/Oceania Group I quarter-final, Pakistan were beaten 5–0 by New Zealand. Aisam went to Germany to play at the Warsteiner Challenger in Wolfsburg, where he reached the final with Austrian Alexander Peya.
He went to play at his second ATP tournament of the year, partnered with Hadad, at the
Copenhagen Open
The Copenhagen Open was a men's tennis tournament on the World Championship Tennis (WCT) circuit and ATP Tour held in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was first held in February 1973 as part of the WCT tour and featured renowned players such as Ken Rosewal ...
. They lost to
George Bastl
George Edward Bastl (born 1 April 1975) is a former professional tennis player from Switzerland.
Tennis career
Bastl was an All-American at the University of Southern California.
He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 71 in ...
and
David Prinosil
David Prinosil ( cz, David Přinosil; born 9 March 1973) is a former tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 1991.
Prinosil was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia, but later moved to Germany. He represented his country at the 1996 ...
5–7, 3–6. In May, Aisam won a doubles futures title in
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
with partner Justin Bower. They stayed together in the country to play at the Fergana Challenger in
Fergana
Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...
where they won the doubles title. This victory saw Aisam reach 89th in the world for doubles rankings.
At the French Open, he played with
Daniel Vacek
Daniel Vacek (born 1 April 1971) is a former tennis player from Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic who turned professional in 1990. He reached the quarterfinals of the 1995 Paris Masters, the 1998 Canada Masters and the 1998 Cincinnati ...
, but they exited at the first round at the hands of
Rick Leach
Rick Leach (born December 28, 1964) is a former professional tennis player and a coach from the United States. A doubles specialist, he won five Grand Slam doubles titles (three at the Australian Open, one at Wimbledon, and one at the US Ope ...
and
Brian MacPhie
Brian MacPhie (born May 11, 1972 in San Jose) is a former professional tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player ...
3–6, 3–6. At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
he and Hadad were beaten in the first round to
Jiří Novák
Jiří Novák (; born 22 March 1975) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was born in Zlín, Czechoslovakia but resides nowadays in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Career
Novák turned professional in 1993 and won seven singles and 18 doubles ...
and
Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
6–7
(5), 5–7, 5–7.
Asiam Partnered
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
at the Manchester Trophy in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, UK, where they reached the semi-finals. They went all the way to the final and won the Colorado Classic in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, US. Returning to Davis Cup action in September, he helped save Pakistan from relegation as they beat South Korea 3–2. With his singles ranking sliding, Aisam concentrated on playing singles matches, winning three futures titles, one in
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
and two in India. He also won two doubles futures titles in India to round off the year, the first with Harsh Mankad and the second with Mustafa Ghouse.
Aisam ended the year ranked 493rd in singles and 187th in doubles.
2004
![Aisam qureshi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Aisam_qureshi.jpg)
Aisam won a single futures title in India on February. He then reached The
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
Challenger doubles semi-finals with Vladimir Voltchkov. Aisam went on to win the IX Challenger Internacional de Salinas in
Salinas, Ecuador
Salinas is a coastal city located in the Province of Santa Elena, Ecuador. It is the seat of the canton that bears its name. The westernmost city on mainland Ecuador, Salinas is an important tourist center. Salinas, Ecuador's largest coastal res ...
with doubles partner Federico Browne. Next, at the USTA Challenger of Calabasas in
Calabasas, USA with partner Cecil Mamiit, he reached the semis. At the Fergana Challenger in
Fergana
Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...
, Uzbekistan, he paired up with Harsh Mankad to reach the final. In
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, he won another singles futures title.
In June, Aisam played his first singles ATP tournament at The
Nottingham Open
The Nottingham Open was originally known as the Nottingham Championships or Nottingham Lawn Tennis Tournament (1887-1967), is a tennis tournament for men and women held in Nottingham, United Kingdom, played on outdoor grass courts at the Nottingh ...
in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
and was beaten in the first round by
Jonas Björkman
Jonas Lars Björkman (; born 23 March 1972) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He is a former world No. 1 in doubles, and also a former world No. 4 in singles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 T ...
in straight sets. He then paired up with Luxembourg's
Gilles Müller
Gilles Müller (; born 9 May 1983) is a former professional tennis player from Luxembourg. He is a two-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist and the most successful male tennis player in the history of his country. Müller won two titles on the ATP W ...
and won at the XI Open International D'Andorra in
Andorra
, image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg
, symbol_type = Coat of arms
, national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
. Aisam then took part in the Open de Montauban in
Montauban
Montauban (, ; oc, Montalban ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, region of Occitania, Southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, an ...
, France, where he and Mankad reached the semi-finals. At The LTA Nottingham Challenger in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
, UK, they both again reached the semis. Next, at The Manchester Trophy in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, UK he partnered Lovro Zovko to the final.
Aisam reached the singles challenger semi-finals at the Arroyo de la Encomienda in
Valladolid
Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...
, Spain. In the same tournament he reached the doubles final with Michael Ryderstedt. After missing the previous tie, Aisam took part in the Davis cup relegation play-off final against favourites New Zealand. He assisted Pakistan in causing a huge upset when they won 3–2 to stay in Asia/Oceania Group I. He travelled to
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
and won another singles futures title. In his final event of the season, Aisam partnered
Jason Marshall to the Audi Challenger semi-final held in
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
, Netherlands. Aisam finished the season ranked 199th in singles and 136th in doubles.
2005
In
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin.
Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's hea ...
, Germany, Aisam played at the Volkswagen Challenger, where partnered by
Lovro Zovko
Lovro Zovko (born 18 March 1981) is a former professional tennis player from Croatia.
Tennis career Juniors
As a junior Zovko reached as high as No. 9 in the world rankings in 1998 (and No. 10 in doubles).
Pro tour
Early in 2000 and 2001, Zov ...
, he reached the final. At the Davis Cup Pakistan defeated Thailand, with Aisam beating
Paradorn Srichaphan
Paradorn Srichaphan ( th, ภราดร ศรีชาพันธุ์; ; ; born 14 June 1979) is a retired professional tennis player from Thailand. He was the first men's singles player from Asia to be ranked in the top 10 of the ATP rank ...
7–5, 2–6, 6–4, 6–4. Going to the Heineken Challenger at
Ho Chi Minh City
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
, Vietnam, he reached his second final, this time with
Orest Tereshchuk
Orest Tereshchuk (born 18 August 1981) is a former professional tennis player from Ukraine.
Career
Tereshchuk began playing Davis Cup tennis for the Ukrainian national team in 1999. His last appearance in 2007 was his 18th tie for Ukraine, lev ...
, but they failed to win the final. Aisam went to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
, Saudi Arabia to represent Pakistan at the Islamic Solidarity Games where he won 3 Golds in the singles, doubles and team events. At the Davis Cup he won all his rubbers as Pakistan beat Chinese Taipei to reach the World Group play-offs for the first time.
He returned to action in the Fergana Challenger, in
Fergana
Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...
, Uzbekistan, with Tereshchuk where they reached the semis. He travelled to
Surbiton, UK to play at the first grass court event of the season at The Surbiton Trophy, where with Stephen Huss he made it to the semi-final. Aisam stayed in Europe to play at the Arpa Ceramic Cup in
Reggio Emilia
Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...
, Italy, and reached another doubles semi-final, with Mustafa Ghouse. Returning to the UK, he played at The LTA Summer Challenger, in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
, UK for his third doubles final, paired with
Jean-Michel Pequery
Jean-Michel Péquery (born May 30, 1978) is a retired France, French professional tennis player.Valladolid
Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...
, Spain, where with Igor Zelenay, he could only get to the doubles semi-final. However, Aisam stayed in Spain to take part at the Open de Tenis Amaya in
Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
, where with Zovko, they won the final and gave Aisam his first doubles Challenger title of the year. He continued his partnership with Zovko as they went to
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
to play at the Samarkand Challenger in
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
, but fell at the semi-final.
Pakistan faced Chile at the World Group play-offs. Aisam lost to
Nicolás Massú
Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried (; born 10 October 1979), nicknamed ''El Vampiro'' (Spanish, 'the vampire'), is a Chilean former professional tennis player. A former world No. 9 in singles, he won the singles and doubles gold medals at the 2004 ...
2–6, 6–7
(4), 1–6, and then with
Aqeel Khan
Aqeel Khan (born 30 January 1980, in Karachi) is a Pakistani tennis player. He is the current Pakistani number one and National Champion. His favourite surface is Grass. He is coached by Pakistani tennis coach Jamil Khan, who is his fa ...
in the doubles, they were beaten by Massu and
Fernando González
Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (; born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professional tennis player. During his career he made it to at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He played his only major final at the ...
1–6, 3–6, 0–6 as Pakistan fell to a 5–0 loss. In December, Asiam won a singles futures title in India. He ended the year ranked 450th in singles and 168th in doubles.
2006
Aisam played at the Davis Cup where he wasn't able to help Pakistan, as they lost to Chinese Taipei 3–2. He travelled to the UK where he won a doubles futures title with Jean-François Bachelot.
At the Davis Cup, Pakistan were beaten by India, despite Aisam winning both his matches. The season continued to be a struggle, however, in June he made it to only his second ever ATP tournament at the
Ordina Open
The Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, branded by its sponsored name as the Libéma Open since 2018, (formerly known as the Continental Grass Court Championships, Heineken Trophy, Ordina Open, UNICEF Open, Topshelf Open and RICOH Open), is a pro ...
in
's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, losing out to third seed
Mario Ančić
Mario Ančić (; born 30 March 1984) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who currently works as a private equity vice president in New York City. He won three singles titles and five doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking ...
, 6–7
(3), 7–6, 5–7, in a closely fought match.
He finally reached his first Challenger final of the year at the Bukhara Challenger, in
Bukhara
Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...
, Uzbekistan, reaching the doubles final with Indian
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
, but lost in straight sets. Aisam returned to Davis Cup action, but Pakistan fell to their third loss of the year, losing to China. This saw them relegated back to Asia/Oceania Group II.
Going to India, he took part at the ATP tournament there, at the
Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open
The Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open (known as the ''Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open'' for sponsorship reasons) was a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was part of the ATP International Series, International S ...
in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, and paired up with
Leander Paes
Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players ever. He holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men's ...
. They beat Paraguay's
Ramón Delgado
Ramón Delgado (; born 14 November 1976) is a Paraguayan retired tennis player and current tennis coach. He turned professional in 1995 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 52 in April 1999. He reached the final at Bogotá in ...
and Greek
Konstantinos Economidis
Konstantinos Economidis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Οικονομίδης, born 2 November 1977) is a retired professional Greek tennis player and a former Greek No. 1. In 2007, he qualified for the French Open and defeated Australian Chris ...
6–4, 6–4. But they lost the quarter-final to third seeds and eventual champions
Mario Ančić
Mario Ančić (; born 30 March 1984) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who currently works as a private equity vice president in New York City. He won three singles titles and five doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking ...
and Indian
Mahesh Bhupathi
Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a major tournament (with Rika Hiraki). With his win at the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles, he ...
6–1, 7–5. In the first Indo-Pak tennis series, he and Aqeel Khan were beaten in the 5 rubber tournament 3–2. He stayed in India to play on the futures circuit, where he won a single futures title. At the
2006 Asian Games in
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
, Qatar, Aisam reached the singles third round. In the doubles, he and Aqeel Khan progressed to the quarter-finals where they were beaten by first seeds and eventual champions
Mahesh Bhupathi
Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a major tournament (with Rika Hiraki). With his win at the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles, he ...
and Leander Paes 2–6, 4–6. In the team event they were knocked out in the first round. In December, Aisam was declared ITF player of the month. Aisam ended the year ranked 417th in singles and 365th in doubles.
2007
Aisam started out in 2007 playing a number of Futures tournaments. He won two doubles titles in the UK, one with Stéphane Robert and the second with Purav Raja. Aisam won two more doubles titles with Jamie Baker. He went to the
UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
where he won a single futures title and two doubles titles with partner Rameez Junaid. In
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
, Aisam won another single and doubles title, this time with Purav Raja. He qualified at the ATP tournament in
Halle, Germany, for the
Gerry Weber Open
The Halle Open is a men's tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1993, the event is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the ATP Tour schedule.
Between 1993 and 2018 ...
where he beat World number 11, and Wimbledon Semi-finalist
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won a total of 15 singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best performances ...
, 7–6
(10), 6–4, which has been the biggest victory of his career to date. Aisam was knocked out in the second round by
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Eberhard Hermann Kohlschreiber (; born 16 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. The right-hander won eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour and made the quarterfinals at the 2012 Wimbledon Cha ...
4–6, 3–6.
He went on to achieve a landmark in his professional career by qualifying the first time for the main rounds of
Wimbledon 2007 Men's Singles competition. Aisam became the first Pakistani in over 31 years to play at a Grand Slam tournament and the second Pakistani to reach the second round of Wimbledon. He won his first Grand Slam match at Wimbledon against
Lee Childs
Lee Childs (born 6 November 1982, in Yeovil) is a retired British tennis player from England.
Following match victories in 2000, Childs was hailed as "the future of British tennis" and a successor to Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski.
At the 2003 ...
, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6, making him the second Pakistani player (the first being
Haroon Rahim
Haroon Rahim (born 12 November 1949) is a Pakistani former tennis player. The former Pakistan and Asian No. 1, Rahim was the youngest tennis player ever to play for Pakistan in the Davis Cup at 15 years of age. He was also the highest ranking P ...
in 1976) to reach the second round of Wimbledon, before losing to
Marat Safin
Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...
2–6, 4–6 and 6–7
(4–7).
At the
Campbell's Hall of Fame Championships
The Infosys Hall of Fame Open is an international tennis tournament that has been held every year in July since 1976 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, the original location of the U.S. National Championships. The ...
at
Newport, he continued his good form as he defeated first seed
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.Fish won six tournaments on the mai ...
6–3, 6–4. In the second round he beat
Nathan Healey
Nathan Healey (born 27 February 1980 in Gosford, New South Wales) is an Australian tennis player.
Turning professional in 1998, Healey has won 3 doubles titles.
In 2006, he earned a wildcard to the Australian Open, making the 3rd round, whe ...
7–6
(2), 5–7, 6–4, to reach the last 8 of an ATP tournament for the first time. However, at the quarter-final Asiam was beaten by
Dick Norman
Dick Norman (born 1 March 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium. He achieved a degree of folk popularity among tennis fans due to his height (6 feet 8 inches), his left-handed power game and, in the last few years of h ...
, 4–6, 6–3, 4–6. In the doubles, Asiam and
Prakash Amritraj
Prakash Amritraj (born October 2, 1983) is an American former professional tennis player, who represented India in international tournaments. He is the son of former Indian tennis player Vijay Amritraj.
Background
Prakash Amritraj is the son ...
were knocked out of the first round by
Wesley Moodie
Wesley Moodie (born 14 February 1979) is a former professional tennis player from South Africa.
Career Early life and college career
He began to play tennis at an early age and won the South African Junior Masters tournament in February 1996.
...
and
Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Vetea Santoro (born 9 December 1972) is a French retired tennis player. Successful in both singles and doubles, he had an unusually long professional career, with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career, and he is ...
0–6, 4–6.
Aisam followed up Newport with Challenger Series tournament in the UK at the LTA Manchester Trophy in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and then The LTA Nottingham Challenger in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
. Aisam secured the doubles title with
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
at Manchester. His red hot streak continued as he powered into the singles final at Nottingham, only to be bested by Australian Alun Jones 3–6, 6–4, 4–6. Aisam did however win back-to-back doubles titles by succeeding in the doubles final at Nottingham with Bopanna.
At the Castilla and León Open Challenger Series tournament in
Segovia
Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia.
Segovia is in the Inner Plateau ('' Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of t ...
, Spain, his failure at singles did not seem to trouble Aisam, as he went on to lift his third consecutive doubles Challenger victory with partner Rohan Bopanna. The duo became known as the "Indo-Pak Express". Aisam returned home and picked up the "Salaam Pakistan Awards" alongside footballer
Muhammad Essa
Muhammad Essa Khan (Urdu/Pashto: ; born on 20 November 1983) is a Pakistani former footballer who played as a forward. Essa is one of the most well known faces in Pakistani football, due to his regular goal scoring at international level.
Cl ...
and squash player
Maria Toor Pakay
Maria Toorpakai Wazir ( ps, ; ur, ; born November 22, 1990 in South Waziristan, FATA) is a professional Pakistani squash player. She dressed like a boy for the first 16 years of her life in order to participate in competitive sports as a Musli ...
.
Aisam then travelled to the US to take part in the GHI Bronx Tennis Classic Challenger Series in
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
to play in the doubles competition. Aisam and Bopanna continued their dominance in the doubles game, as they prepared for the US Open, by winning the hard court challenger, and in the process, forming a 16-match winning streak that spanned four tournaments. In doing so, Aisam won his 50th title including both singles and doubles at all levels.
In order to fulfill his dream of playing at the
US Open, Aisam needed to win three qualifying matches. He started out strongly, advancing to the third qualifying round where he met
Scoville Jenkins
Scoville Jenkins (born September 23, 1986, in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former professional tennis player on the ATP Tour. He is sometimes referred to by his nickname "Sco". He reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 187 in April 2 ...
of the US. Aisam pulled out before the third set due to a bout of tendinitis.
Although not fully fit, Aisam returned in time to play at the
Kingfisher Airlines Open in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, his fourth ATP tournament of the year. It was also the first time Aisam was in the first round draw without needing to qualify or receiving a wildcard. Despite being the highest ranking Asian in the tournament, he was defeated in the first round by Serbian
Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki ( sr-Cyrl, Виктор Троицки, ; born 10 February 1986) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup, and his second and third ATP singles titles at the 2015 a ...
6–2, 6–4. Aisam also resumed his partnership with Bopanna and easily won their first round encounter, beating Indian duo
Stephen Amritraj
Stephen Amritraj (born March 28, 1984) is an American former professional tennis player, who represented India in international tournaments. He is the nephew of Vijay Amritraj, and son of Anand Amritraj.
Amritraj is the son of former world tour ...
and
Somdev Devvarman
Somdev Kishore Devvarman (born 13 February 1985) is a former professional Indian tennis player. He hit the headlines for being the only collegiate player to have made three consecutive finals at the NCAA, winning back-to-back finals ...
6–3, 6–2. In the quarters, they faced
Iván Navarro Pastor
Ivan () is a Slavic languages, Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John (given name), John) from Hebrew language, Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. T ...
and
Sergio Roitman
Sergio Andres Roitman (born 16 May 1979), nicknamed 'Motoneta' (''Shotgun'' in Spanish) is a retired professional tennis player from Argentina.
He achieved a career-high rankings of world No. 62 in singles in October 2007, and world No. 45 in do ...
, who pulled out, allowing Aisam to reach his first ATP semi-final. The Qureshi-Bopanna partnership beat
Lars Burgsmüller
Lars Burgsmüller (born 6 December 1975) is a retired German professional tennis player.
Burgsmüller reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 65, achieved on 18 February 2002. He also reached a career high ATP doubles ranking ...
and
Olivier Rochus
Olivier Rochus (; born 18 January 1981) is a retired Belgian tennis player. He is the younger brother of Christophe Rochus, also a former top-40 tennis player.
Rochus won two singles titles in his career and in 2004 won the French Open doubles ...
, 6–2, 6–3. In Aisam's first career ATP tournament final, the duo faced third seeds
Robert Lindstedt
Robert Lindstedt (born 19 March 1977) is a Swedish former professional tennis player who specialized in doubles. He turned professional in 1998, and reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in May 2013. Lindstedt won his first Grand ...
and
Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles titles ...
, but lost, 6–7
(3), 6–7
(5). This loss ended their 19-match win streak.
At the Tarka Challenger in
Barnstaple, UK, Aisam teamed up with Frederik Nielsen and won the tournament. As his singles ranks rose into the top 150, making him the third-best Asian player, he took part in the second Indo-Pak tennis series. He and Aqeel Khan were beaten in the 3 rubber first leg 2–1 but won the second leg 2–1 to tie the series. Returning to the Challenger circuit at the Malaysian Open in
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, su ...
, Malaysia, he was runner up with Bopanna in the doubles. Aisam went to New Delhi, India to play in the second to last Challenger event of the year, though he lost the doubles final with Boanna, he won his first Challenger singles title with a victory against surprise finalist Jae Sung An 7–5, 6–4 and with that reaching the top 130. Asiam spent the rest of December in India to prepare for the following season, with
Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles in ...
,
Mahesh Bhupathi
Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a major tournament (with Rika Hiraki). With his win at the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles, he ...
and
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
. Aisam ended the year ranked 125th in singles and 90th in doubles.
2008
Aisam began the season at the
Chennai Open
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, India. He missed the singles qualifiers due to unrest in Pakistan, but made it in time to play doubles alongside Croat
Marin Čilić
Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Čilić has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including a major at the 2014 US Open. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Austral ...
. They defeated first round opponents
Mustafa Ghouse and
Karan Rastogi
Karan Rastogi (born 8 October 1986, Mumbai) is an Indian tennis player, who also represented Hong Kong in international competitions. He started playing tennis at the age of 3. He was ranked No.1 in all age groups in India from the under ...
both from India, 6–4, 7–6
(1). In the quarter-finals they faced second seeds
Jaroslav Levinský
Jaroslav Levinský (born 11 February 1981) is a professional doubles tennis player from the Czech Republic.
Levinsky reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 239, achieved on 23 September 2002. He also reached a career-high doubles r ...
and
Michal Mertiňák
Michal Mertiňák (born 11 October 1979) is a retired professional tennis player from Slovakia. He turned professional in 1999, and has won six doubles titles in his career on the ATP Tour. He reached his career high doubles ranking of World No. ...
, who they over came 6–1, 7–5. In the semis they were beaten by eventual title winners
Sanchai Ratiwatana
Sanchai Ratiwatana ( th, สรรค์ชัย รติวัฒน์, ), nicknamed Tong (, ; born January 23, 1982 in Bangkok), is a professional tennis player from Thailand. He turned professional in 2004.
In 2007, Sanchai and his twin br ...
, and
Sonchat Ratiwatana
Sonchat Ratiwatana ( th, สนฉัตร รติวัฒน์, ), nicknamed Ton (, ; born January 23, 1982 in Bangkok) is a professional tennis player from Thailand. In 2007, Sonchat and his twin brother Sanchai Ratiwatana won their first ...
from Thailand 6–2, 2–6, 4–10. His doubles ranking rose to a new high of 82nd. Coincidentally, the Qureshi-Cilic partnership entered the 2008 doubles race ranked at ninth. Qureshi entered the qualification draw for men's singles at the 2008 Australian Open. He was seeded 16 but lost in the first round in a tight three set match. Back on the Challenger circuit, Aisam teamed up with
Igor Kunitsyn
Igor Konstantinovich Kunitsyn ( rus, И́горь Константи́нович Куни́цын, , ˈiɡərʲ kʊˈnʲitsɨn; born September 30, 1981) is a retired tennis player from Russia. He made it into the top 100 for the first time in ...
and reached the Heilbronn Open final in
Heilbronn, Germany.
Aisam went to the US to play at the
Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. With
Bobby Reynolds
Robert Thomas "Bobby" Reynolds (born July 17, 1982) is an American retired professional tennis player who resides in Auburn, Alabama. He was named head men's tennis coach at Auburn University in June 2016.
Professional career
Reynolds, a nativ ...
they beat
Amer Delic
Amer may refer to:
Places
* Amer (river), a river in the Dutch province of North Brabant
* Amer, Girona, a municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain
* Amber, India (also known as Amer, India), former city of Rajasthan state
** Am ...
and
Rajeev Ram 6–1, 6–7
(3) 10–5. In the quarter-finals they lost to first seeds and world number ones
Bob Bryan
Robert Charles Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He has won twenty-three Grand Slam titles: 16 in men's doubles and 7 in mixed doubles. He turned professional in 1998. With his twin ...
and
Mike Bryan
Michael Carl Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. With his twin brother Bob, he was the world's top doubles player for more than nine years, first achieving the top ranking in Septem ...
4–6, 4–6. He then paired up with longtime doubles partner Bopanna at the
SAP Open
The Pacific Coast Championships was an annual men's tennis tournament. It was the second-oldest ongoing tennis tournament in the United States and ran from 1889 until 2013. Its final edition, known by its sponsored name SAP Open, was an ATP World ...
in
San Jose, and were knocked out of the first round by third seeds
Max Mirnyi
Maksim "Max" Mikalaevich Mirnyi ( be, Максім Мікалаевіч Мірны, ; russian: Максим Николаевич Мирный, ; born 6 July 1977) is a Belarusian former professional tennis player.
Mirnyi became a doubles speci ...
and
Jamie Murray
Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
4–6, 4–6.
Aisam and Bopanna were given wildcards for the
Dubai Tennis Championships
The Dubai Tennis Championships or Dubai Open (also known as the ''Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships'' for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's ...
and defeated
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu (; born 12 January 1982) is a French former professional tennis player. He won four singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best singles performance in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament was reaching the semifinals of the ...
and
Igor Andreev
Igor Valeryevich Andreev (russian: link=no, И́горь Вале́рьевич Андре́ев, BGN/PCGN: ''Andreyev'', ISO 9: ''Andreev'', ; born 14 July 1983) is a Russian former professional tennis player. He won three ATP Tour singles ti ...
7–5, 6–4 in the first Round. In the quarter-finals, they squandered a one set advantage against first seeds
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor ( ; sr, Данијел Нестор, Danijel Nestor; born September 4, 1972) is a Canadian former professional tennis player.
Nestor won 91 men's doubles titles (with 11 different partners), including an Olympic gold medal
...
and
Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjić ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Зимоњић, ; born 4 June 1976) is a Serbian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
He is an eight-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2008 and 2009 Wimbledon Cha ...
, losing 2–6, 7–6
(5), 10–6. Aisam was called up the Pakistan Davis Cup squad and prepared for the hectic Asia/Oceania Group III schedule. During the Davis Cup, he was inspired form, as Pakistan won each tie 3–0 to gain promotion back to Asia/Oceania Group II. He went to
Lanzarote, Spain and reached the doubles final of the VII Open Isla de Lanzarote with
Gilles Müller
Gilles Müller (; born 9 May 1983) is a former professional tennis player from Luxembourg. He is a two-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist and the most successful male tennis player in the history of his country. Müller won two titles on the ATP W ...
, but were beaten 2–6, 6–7, however this saw his doubles ranking rise to 67th.
Then in New Delhi, India, Aisam took part in the New Delhi Challenger, and was knocked out in the quarter-finals to World No. 78
Yen-Hsun Lu
Lu Yen-hsun (; born 14 August 1983) is a Taiwanese retired professional tennis player, who goes by the nickname Rendy Lu.
He won the most titles on the ATP Challenger Tour in tennis history. His favorite surface is hardcourt, though several of ...
7–6, 3–6, 5–7. He teamed up with Bopanna for the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
where in a tough first round draw they took on first seeds
Bob Bryan
Robert Charles Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He has won twenty-three Grand Slam titles: 16 in men's doubles and 7 in mixed doubles. He turned professional in 1998. With his twin ...
and
Mike Bryan
Michael Carl Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. With his twin brother Bob, he was the world's top doubles player for more than nine years, first achieving the top ranking in Septem ...
for the second time in a year, but lost 1–6, 4–6. They both moved on to
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
and knocked out Polish tenth seeds
Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Mariusz Stanisław Fyrstenberg (born 8 July 1980) is a retired left-handed Polish tennis player who was a doubles specialist.
Fyrstenberg primarily partnered Marcin Matkowski. The pair won the Madrid Open twice, in addition to reaching the fin ...
and
Marcin Matkowski
Marcin Matkowski (; born 15 January 1981) is a Polish former professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. He played college tennis at UCLA, where Jean-Julien Rojer was one of his teammates. Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg won t ...
6–3, 7–5, 6–4. In the second round they lost to
Marcel Granollers-Pujol
Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 19 in July 2012, and his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in February 2013. Granollers h ...
and
Santiago Ventura Bertomeu
Santiago Ventura Bertomeu (; born 5 January 1980) is a retired tennis player from Spain. He was born in Castellón, Spain and lives in Burriana, Spain. He is a clay court specialist and is known for the considerable use of drop shots during hi ...
2–6, 4–6, 2–6.
He went to play a Challenger in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, Ireland and with
Prakash Amritraj
Prakash Amritraj (born October 2, 1983) is an American former professional tennis player, who represented India in international tournaments. He is the son of former Indian tennis player Vijay Amritraj.
Background
Prakash Amritraj is the son ...
they beat
Jonathan Marray
Jonathan Marray (born 10 March 1981) is a former British tennis player and a Wimbledon Men's Doubles champion. Marray is a former top 20 doubles player, reaching a career high of world no. 15 in January 2013, mainly due to more regular appearan ...
and
Frederik Nielsen
Frederik Løchte Nielsen (born 27 August 1983) is a former professional tennis player. He was the top ranked player from Denmark in the ATP doubles world rankings. A former Wimbledon men's doubles champion, he peaked at no. 17 in the rankin ...
in the doubles final 6–3, 7–6. Aisam returned to the US to play at the
Campbell's Hall of Fame Championships
The Infosys Hall of Fame Open is an international tennis tournament that has been held every year in July since 1976 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, the original location of the U.S. National Championships. The ...
where he took on
Benjamin Becker
Benjamin Becker (born 16 June 1981) is a German retired professional tennis player who is known for defeating former world No. 1 Andre Agassi in the third round at the 2006 US Open in what was Agassi's last match as a professional player.
Bec ...
in the singles first round and won 7–5, 7–6. In the second round he was defeated by second seed and defending champion
Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Vetea Santoro (born 9 December 1972) is a French retired tennis player. Successful in both singles and doubles, he had an unusually long professional career, with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career, and he is ...
6–7, 2–6. In the
doubles, he and Bopanna were seeded fourth, the first time both have been seeded in an ATP event. In the first round they beat
Tripp Phillips
Owen Thomas Phillips III (better known as Tripp Phillips) (born August 26, 1977) is a former American professional tennis player.
Early life
Phillips was born in Newport News, Virginia. He started to play tennis at the age of four with his m ...
and
Jim Thomas 4–6, 6–3, 10–2. They won their quarterfinal 7–6, 3–6, 10–7
Kevin Anderson and
James Cerretani
Jamie Cerretani, (born October 2, 1981) is an American professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, he has won four ATP World Tour
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Profession ...
and followed that up by defeating
Rik de Voest
Rik de Voest (born 5 June 1980) is a former professional South African tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 110 in August 2006. Rik resides in Vancouver, Canada where he pursues a career in real estate.
De V ...
and
Ashley Fisher in the semis 5–7, 6–4, 11–9. In the second ATP doubles final of his career, they faced
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.Fish won six tournaments on the mai ...
and
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Considered one of the best servers ...
, but despite being favorites, they lost 4–6, 6–7.
They then went to
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
where Aisam lost his first round
singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
match to
Wayne Odesnik
Wayne Odesnik (born November 21, 1985) is a South African-born American retired professional left-handed tennis player, with a two-handed backhand. His highest singles ranking was No. 77 in 2009.
Among his biggest upsets were a 2007 win over Iv ...
4–6, 5–7. In the
doubles, he and Bopanna defeated fourth seeds
Igor Kunitsyn
Igor Konstantinovich Kunitsyn ( rus, И́горь Константи́нович Куни́цын, , ˈiɡərʲ kʊˈnʲitsɨn; born September 30, 1981) is a retired tennis player from Russia. He made it into the top 100 for the first time in ...
and
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov (; born 12 December 1982) is a retired Russian tennis player and current tennis coach. At age 12 he moved to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player. His career-high singl ...
2–6, 7–5, 10–6. In the second round Bopanna picked up an injury and retired at 2–6, 0–1 against eventual champions
Ashley Fisher and
Tripp Phillips
Owen Thomas Phillips III (better known as Tripp Phillips) (born August 26, 1977) is a former American professional tennis player.
Early life
Phillips was born in Newport News, Virginia. He started to play tennis at the age of four with his m ...
. Aisam went back to playing challengers to
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...
, Brazil to play at the lBH Tenis Open International Cup 2008 where he reached the singles quarter-finals and in the doubles, he and Mexican
Santiago González won the title. In
Campos do Jordão
Campos do Jordão () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in southeastern Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 52,405 (2020 est.) in an area of . The city is situated above s ...
, at the Credicard Citi MasterCard Tennis Cup, Aisam was defeated at the semi-finals in both singles and doubles. He and Bopanna played at the
2008 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
The 2008 Legg Mason Tennis Classic was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 40th edition of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, and was part of the International Series of the 2008 ATP Tour. It took place at the William ...
they were defeated in the first round by third seeds
Rik de Voest
Rik de Voest (born 5 June 1980) is a former professional South African tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 110 in August 2006. Rik resides in Vancouver, Canada where he pursues a career in real estate.
De V ...
and
Ashley Fisher 4–6, 4–6.
Aisam took part in the
US Open. In the
Singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
he faced former World No 1 and French Open champion
Carlos Moyà in the first round but lost 4–6, 7–6, 6–7, 2–6. In the
Doubles he and Bopanna opened against
Marc Gicquel
Marc Gicquel (born 30 March 1977) is a former professional male tennis player from France.
Tennis career
Gicquel turned pro in 1999. He made his ATP Tour singles debut at the 2002 Open 13 tournament on hard courts in Marseilles, France. He ...
and
Sébastien Grosjean
Sébastien René Grosjean (; born 29 May 1978) is a French former professional tennis player. Grosjean reached the semifinals at the 2001 Australian and French Opens, and at Wimbledon in 2003 and 2004. He finished eight consecutive seasons r ...
, losing 5–7, 3–6. He then appeared in the
Thailand Open, losing in the first round to Swedish sixth seed
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 15 November 2010. His career highlights include rea ...
2–6, 4–6. In the
doubles, he and Bopanna lost 6–7, 6–4, 7–10 to first seeds
Lukáš Dlouhý and
Leander Paes
Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players ever. He holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men's ...
. Then in the
Stockholm Open
The Stockholm Open (currently sponsored by Intrum) is an indoor tennis event on the ATP Tour played at the Kungliga tennishallen in Stockholm, Sweden. The tournament is owned by The Royal Lawn Tennis Club of Stockholm, SALK (Stockholm Pub ...
, Aisam teamed up with
Mario Ančić
Mario Ančić (; born 30 March 1984) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who currently works as a private equity vice president in New York City. He won three singles titles and five doubles titles. His career-high singles ranking ...
, however they were unable to get past the first round, losing to first seeds
Jonas Björkman
Jonas Lars Björkman (; born 23 March 1972) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He is a former world No. 1 in doubles, and also a former world No. 4 in singles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 T ...
and
Kevin Ullyett
Kevin Ullyett (born 23 May 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Zimbabwe. His primary success on the tour was in men's doubles.
Ullyett won 34 doubles titles during his career, including two Grand Slams at the 2001 US Open and t ...
5–7, 4–6.
He travelled to
Kolding
Kolding () is a Danish seaport located at the head of Kolding Fjord in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the seat of Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre, and has numerous industrial companie ...
, Denmark to play in the Kobstaedernes ATP Challenger, reaching the doubles semi-finals before going on to Russia to take part in
St. Petersburg Open where he partnered
Rogier Wassen
Rogier Wassen (born 9 August 1976) is a Dutch tennis player who competed regularly on the ATP Tour primarily as a doubles player.
Wassen reached his highest doubles ranking on the ATP Tour on 10 September 2007 when he became World No. 24. The r ...
, but they lost to
Igor Kunitsyn
Igor Konstantinovich Kunitsyn ( rus, И́горь Константи́нович Куни́цын, , ˈiɡərʲ kʊˈnʲitsɨn; born September 30, 1981) is a retired tennis player from Russia. He made it into the top 100 for the first time in ...
and
Marat Safin
Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...
3–6, 6–2 9–11 in the first round.
Aisam then went to play in Challenger in
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
, Japan at the Keio Challenger International Tennis Tournament where he reached the singles quarterfinals, losing to former Asian number 1 and World No. 36
Hyung-Taik Lee 6–4, 4–6, 4–6. The Pakistani rounded off the year with a win in the Dunlop Challenger in
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
, Japan alongside
Frederik Nielsen
Frederik Løchte Nielsen (born 27 August 1983) is a former professional tennis player. He was the top ranked player from Denmark in the ATP doubles world rankings. A former Wimbledon men's doubles champion, he peaked at no. 17 in the rankin ...
.
2009
Aisam played in a future event in Sheffield, England, as the second seed. Aisam beat British Timothy Bradshaw in the first round 6–4, 6–0 but lost 6–4, 6–2 to Matthew Illingworth in the second.
Aisam lost to Matthias Bachinger in the first round of qualifying in the Heilbronn Challenger in Germany 7–6
(4), 2–6, 3–6, and also lost in the first round of doubles with James Auckland. Next week, Aisam went to the Wrocław Challenger but lost in the second round of qualifying. Teaming up with Auckland again, he lost in the second round in the doubles.
Aisam went to the qualifying rounds in the Belgrade Challenger but lost in the first round to Julian Reister 7–5, 5–7, 4–6, Aisam was a break up in the second set and he also missed a match point in the tenth game of the second set as Reister was serving to stay in the match. Aisam teamed up with Lovro Zovko in the Doubles they lost in the final 6–3, 2–6 8–10. Aisam teamed up with Prakash Amritraj in the Dubai Championship but lost in the first round.
Aisam played in Pakistan's win over Oman in the Davis Cup which they won 4–1. Aisam won his first rubber and he won the Doubles match with Aqeel Khan, but did not play in the dead rubbers.
Back on the Challenger Circuit, Aisam travelled to Kyoto, Japan where he beat Chris Guccione in the first round 7–6
(3), 6–4. He played I.Dodig in the second round, Aisam lost 5–7, 1–6, hurting his ankle during the match, but recovered to play in his Doubles Match. Aisam claimed the Doubles Title in Kyoto with partner M. Slanar. Aisam partnered R. Bopanna in the Bangkok Challenger and they reached the semi finals, but lost in two close Tie-Breakers 6–7
(4), 6–7
(5) to Elgin & Kudryavtsev.
Qureshi went to the Korat Challenger teaming up with Rohan Bopanna, where they reached the semi-finals. They defeated Levy and Okun 7–6
(5), 3–6, 10–6 to reach the final, in which they beat
Sanchai and
Sonchat Ratiwatana
Sonchat Ratiwatana ( th, สนฉัตร รติวัฒน์, ), nicknamed Ton (, ; born January 23, 1982 in Bangkok) is a professional tennis player from Thailand. In 2007, Sonchat and his twin brother Sanchai Ratiwatana won their first ...
6–3, 6–7
(5) 10–5. Qureshi & Bopanna had to play their semi-final and final matches on the same day. This meant Qureshi claimed his second title in three weeks, Aisam also was a semi-finalist in Bangkok.
Aisam went to the Johannesburg Challenger where he lost in the first round.
Aisam travelled to Busan, Korea to take part in the Challenger event. Aisam won his first round match against M. Semjan 6–3, 6–4, and in the second round Aisam won 7–6, 6–4 against T. Iwami to reach the quarter-finals. Qureshi travelled to Fergana where he lost in the second round in the Singles and lost in the Final in the Doubles.
He qualified into the main round of 2009 Wimbledon doubles, paired with Prakash Amritraj. After upsetting the 16th seeds Huss and Hutchins, they next defeated Junaid and Marx in the second round. They faced fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles in the third Round and lost 4–6, 7–5, 6–7, 0–6.
Qureshi lost in the second Round in the Qualifying Rounds in Newport and lost in the first Round in the Main Draw in the Doubles.
Qureshi then went to Båstad for the Doubles event but lost in the first Round.
Qureshi then travelled to Indianapolis to take part in the Singles Qualifiers and the Main Draw in the Doubles, where he was partnered with Sam Querrey. Qureshi won his first Round Qualifier against Joe Bates 6–3, 1–6, 6–3. Qureshi then faced L.Gregorc in the second Round and won 6–3, 7–6 (7–4). Qureshi lost to Alex Bogomolov, Jr. in the Final Round 5–7, 4–6. In the Doubles Qureshi and Querrey made it to the semi-finals before losing to E.Gulbis & D.Tursunov 6–1, 2–6 8–10.
Qureshi played in the US Open 2009 main draw, partnering with Jarkko Nieminen. They won the first round match, defeating A Golubev & D Istomin 4–6, 7–6
(11), 6–4. They lost in the second round to second seeds Nestor & Zimonjic 7–6
(5), 6–3.
On 3 November 2009, Qureshi with his partner James Cerretani defeated
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
and Marco Chiudinelli in straight sets at th
Basel OpenDoubles. The final score was 6–4, 6–3. Qureshi said this was the greatest achievement of his career. Qureshi and Bopanna teamed up for both Challengers in Aachen & Helsinki and they won both Titles which marked a good end to the year for Qureshi. Qureeshi ended the year Number 59 in the Doubles Ranking.
2010
Qureshi won his first ATP title ever at the
2010 SA Tennis Open in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
, South Africa, with his partner
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
. They defeated
Karol Beck
Karol Beck (born 3 April 1982) is a male former tennis player from Slovakia, who turned professional in 2001. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 36, achieved in August 2005. Beck reached the fourth round of the 2004 US Open and the qu ...
and
Harel Levy
Harel Levy ( he, הראל לוי; born 5 August 1978) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player, and the current captain of Israel's Davis Cup team. He reached the final of the 2000 Toronto Masters and achieved a career-high singles rank ...
, 2–6, 6–3,
0–5 in the final.
Qureshi and Bopanna then made their second ATP final of the year at the
2010 Grand Prix Hassan II
The 2010 Grand Prix Hassan II was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 26th edition of the Grand Prix Hassan II, and an ATP Tour World 250 event on the 2010 ATP World Tour. It was the 26th edition of the tournament ...
in
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
, Morocco, but were defeated by
Robert Lindstedt
Robert Lindstedt (born 19 March 1977) is a Swedish former professional tennis player who specialized in doubles. He turned professional in 1998, and reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in May 2013. Lindstedt won his first Grand ...
and
Horia Tecău
Horia Tecău (; born January 19, 1985) is a Romanian former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles.
He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2017 US Open alongside Jean-Julien Roje ...
, 2–6, 6–3,
–10
In May, Qureshi and Bopanna were runners-up in the
2010 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur in Nice, France, falling 6–1, 3–6, 5–10 to
Marcelo Melo and
Bruno Soares
Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialises in doubles.
A doubles specialist, Soares won six major titles, the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 alongside Jamie Murray, and ...
in the final. Qureshi and Bopanna made the second round in the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, but lost to
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
and
Julien Benneteau
Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is ATP world no. 25, which he reached in November 2014. He formerly resided in Boulogne-Billancourt and ...
.
Qureshi and Bopanna reached their first ever Grand Slam quarterfinals in the
2010 Wimbledon Championships. In the interim period between Wimbledon and the
2010 US Open, the South Asian duo made an appearance in the semifinals at the
2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, where they lost to eventual champions
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.Fish won six tournaments on the mai ...
and
Mark Knowles
Mark Knowles (born 4 September 1971) is a Bahamian professional tennis coach and former professional tennis player, becoming the former number 1 in world as a specialist in doubles tennis. He won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in ...
after a dramatic straight-sets upset of second seeds
Bob and Mike Bryan in the quarterfinal round. The duo had a disappointing second-round exit against
Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Mariusz Stanisław Fyrstenberg (born 8 July 1980) is a retired left-handed Polish tennis player who was a doubles specialist.
Fyrstenberg primarily partnered Marcin Matkowski. The pair won the Madrid Open twice, in addition to reaching the fin ...
and
Marcin Matkowski
Marcin Matkowski (; born 15 January 1981) is a Polish former professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. He played college tennis at UCLA, where Jean-Julien Rojer was one of his teammates. Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg won t ...
, the eighth seeds, at the
2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters shortly before their return to New York. In
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
, at
the last tournament before the US Open, Qureshi and Bopanna reached the final, where they again lost to Lindstedt and Tecău.
In
men's doubles at the US Open, a 16th-seeded Qureshi and Bopanna again upset the second-seeded team, taking out
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor ( ; sr, Данијел Нестор, Danijel Nestor; born September 4, 1972) is a Canadian former professional tennis player.
Nestor won 91 men's doubles titles (with 11 different partners), including an Olympic gold medal
...
and
Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjić ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Зимоњић, ; born 4 June 1976) is a Serbian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
He is an eight-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2008 and 2009 Wimbledon Cha ...
to advance to the quarterfinals, their second straight quarterfinal showing at a major tournament. They advanced to the semifinals with a straight-sets upset of
Wesley Moodie
Wesley Moodie (born 14 February 1979) is a former professional tennis player from South Africa.
Career Early life and college career
He began to play tennis at an early age and won the South African Junior Masters tournament in February 1996.
...
and
Dick Norman
Dick Norman (born 1 March 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium. He achieved a degree of folk popularity among tennis fans due to his height (6 feet 8 inches), his left-handed power game and, in the last few years of h ...
, the tenth-seeded pairing. In the semifinal, they ousted
Eduardo Schwank
Eduardo Jonatan Schwank (; also known as ''Schwanka''; born 23 April 1986) is a retired professional tennis player from Argentina. In 2011, he reached the finals of the French Open in men's doubles partnering Juan Sebastian Cabal and of the US ...
and
Horacio Zeballos, Jr., to advance to a meeting with Bob and Mike Bryan of United States in the final. Qureshi and Bopanna gave the Bryan twins quite a run for the title but eventually lost to them in straight sets, 7–6, 7–6.
Qureshi also partnered with
Květa Peschke
Květoslava Peschke (née Hrdličková; born 9 July 1975) is a Czech retired professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
She reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 26 in November 2005, winning one WTA singles title ...
in
mixed doubles
Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...
and beat the eighth-seeded team of
Vania King
Vania King (born February 3, 1989) is an American former tennis player. A former top-ten doubles player, King won both the Wimbledon and US Open women's doubles titles in 2010 with partner Yaroslava Shvedova, with whom she also reached the f ...
and Horia Tecău in the first round, eventually advancing to the quarterfinals (with a win over
Yaroslava Shvedova
Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova (; born 12 September 1987) is a Kazakhstani former professional tennis player. Before 2008, she represented her country of birth, Russia.
She won one singles title and 13 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, plus o ...
and
Julian Knowle
Julian Knowle (born 29 April 1974) is an Austrian former male professional tennis player. Being a born left-hander, Knowle was one of the few on the ATP Tour who played his forehand, backhand, and even volleys double-handed. He was Austria's m ...
), the semifinals (beating
Gisela Dulko
Gisela Dulko (; born 30 January 1985) is a retired Argentine tennis player. Although she enjoyed modest success in singles, reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 26 and winning four WTA titles, her speciality was doubles, where she achiev ...
and
Pablo Cuevas
Pablo Gabriel Cuevas Urroz (; born January 1, 1986) is an inactive Uruguayan professional tennis player. Cuevas won the 2008 French Open men's doubles title with Luis Horna.
He has won six singles titles and has a career-high singles ranking of ...
), and the final (beating
Anna-Lena Grönefeld
Anna-Lena Grönefeld (also spelled Groenefeld; born 4 June 1985) is a German former professional tennis player.
Competing as a professional from 2003 until 2019, she won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2006 Mexican Open, and reached t ...
and
Mark Knowles
Mark Knowles (born 4 September 1971) is a Bahamian professional tennis coach and former professional tennis player, becoming the former number 1 in world as a specialist in doubles tennis. He won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in ...
). In the final, Peschke and Qureshi put up a great fight but eventually lost to
Bob Bryan
Robert Charles Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He has won twenty-three Grand Slam titles: 16 in men's doubles and 7 in mixed doubles. He turned professional in 1998. With his twin ...
and
Liezel Huber
Liezel Huber (née Horn; born 21 August 1976) is a South African-American retired tennis player who represented the United States internationally since August 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles with partner Cara Blac ...
in a straight 6–4, 6–4.
Both US Open showings are Qureshi's best yet at any major tournament in any draw, and his partnership with Peschke marks his first outing in the mixed doubles competition of a hard-court major.
2011
Aisam started 2011 by taking part in
India Open
The India Open is an annual badminton event which has been held in India since 2008 and is a BWF World Tour Super 750 international badminton tournament. Its first three editions were designated as Grand Prix Gold events. In 2011, it was upgr ...
in doubles, where he reached the quarterfinals. He then went to the
2011 Medibank International Sydney. Partnered with
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
. he reached the semifinals, where they lost to eventual champions
Lukáš Dlouhý and
Paul Hanley 7 -5, 4–6, 10–8. Then Qureshi went to the Australian Open, where he and Bopanna reached the third round, before losing to
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
and
Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjić ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Зимоњић, ; born 4 June 1976) is a Serbian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
He is an eight-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2008 and 2009 Wimbledon Cha ...
, 6–3, 6–7, 6–7.
Bopanna and Qureshi's run at the Monte Carlo Masters ended on Saturday, when they were beaten in the semifinals by unseeded South Americans
Juan Ignacio Chela
Juan Ignacio Chela (; born 30 August 1979), nicknamed as “El Flaco” or “Liliano,” is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. Chela was given a three-month ban from the professional tour in 2001 for failing a drugs test. Post-d ...
and
Bruno Soares
Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialises in doubles.
A doubles specialist, Soares won six major titles, the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 alongside Jamie Murray, and ...
, 2–6, 7–6
(4), 7–10, in 95 minutes.
They advanced to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, but lost to the Bryan Brothers, 6–7, 6–3, 6–7.
They were top seeds at Gerry Weber Open, which they won by defeating
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
and
Robin Haase
Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player.
He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012, and has won two singles titles, at the Austrian Open in both 2011 and 2012. Haase also reac ...
, 7–6, 3–6, 11–9.
He achieved the ranking of world no. 8 on 6 June 2011.
He reached the semifinals of the US Open doubles with Bopanna. Next, he won the Thailand Open doubles with
Oliver Marach
Oliver Marach (born 16 July 1980) is an Austrian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles.
He achieved his highest singles ranking of world No. 82 in August 2005, but achieved most of his success in doubles where he reache ...
. This pair defeated
Michael Kohlmann
Michael Kohlmann (born 11 January 1974) is a retired professional tennis player from Germany.
Primarily a doubles specialist, he has won five ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association ...
and Alexander Waske, 7–6
(4), 7–6
(5), in the final.
Aisam and Bopanna won the Stockholm Open, defeating
Marcelo Melo and
Bruno Soares
Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialises in doubles.
A doubles specialist, Soares won six major titles, the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 alongside Jamie Murray, and ...
of Brazil, 6–4, 6–3.
Aisam was also nominated for the Stephen Edberg sportsmanship award along with stars like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
.
Bopanna and Qureshi compiled a consistent season, reaching the semifinals or better at seven tournaments in total, including at the US Open, where they were runners-up a year earlier. They also reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, losing to the Bryans.
The greatest achievement of the Indo-Pak express in 2011 was winning the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. They defeated the pair of
Julien Benneteau
Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is ATP world no. 25, which he reached in November 2014. He formerly resided in Boulogne-Billancourt and ...
and Nicolas Mahut in the final, 6–2, 6–4. They reached the finals by defeating the third seeds
Max Mirnyi
Maksim "Max" Mikalaevich Mirnyi ( be, Максім Мікалаевіч Мірны, ; russian: Максим Николаевич Мирный, ; born 6 July 1977) is a Belarusian former professional tennis player.
Mirnyi became a doubles speci ...
and
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor ( ; sr, Данијел Нестор, Danijel Nestor; born September 4, 1972) is a Canadian former professional tennis player.
Nestor won 91 men's doubles titles (with 11 different partners), including an Olympic gold medal
...
, 6–3, 7–6, in the semifinals and the second seeds
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
and
Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjić ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Зимоњић, ; born 4 June 1976) is a Serbian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
He is an eight-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2008 and 2009 Wimbledon Cha ...
, 3–6, 6–4, 10–6, in the quarterfinals.
They became the seventh doubles team to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on 6 November. In their first round-robin match, they lost to
Max Mirnyi
Maksim "Max" Mikalaevich Mirnyi ( be, Максім Мікалаевіч Мірны, ; russian: Максим Николаевич Мирный, ; born 6 July 1977) is a Belarusian former professional tennis player.
Mirnyi became a doubles speci ...
and
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor ( ; sr, Данијел Нестор, Danijel Nestor; born September 4, 1972) is a Canadian former professional tennis player.
Nestor won 91 men's doubles titles (with 11 different partners), including an Olympic gold medal
...
, 6–7, 6–4, 9–11. In their second round-robin match, they were defeated by
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
and
Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjić ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Зимоњић, ; born 4 June 1976) is a Serbian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
He is an eight-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2008 and 2009 Wimbledon Cha ...
, 6–7, 3–6. In their third match, they were defeated by the Polish pair
Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Mariusz Stanisław Fyrstenberg (born 8 July 1980) is a retired left-handed Polish tennis player who was a doubles specialist.
Fyrstenberg primarily partnered Marcin Matkowski. The pair won the Madrid Open twice, in addition to reaching the fin ...
and
Marcin Matkowski
Marcin Matkowski (; born 15 January 1981) is a Polish former professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. He played college tennis at UCLA, where Jean-Julien Rojer was one of his teammates. Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg won t ...
, 2–6, 1–6. Since they lost all three of their round-robin matches, they did not qualify for the semifinal.
2012
In 2012, Aisam played with Curaçaoan
Jean-Julien Rojer
Jean-Julien Rojer (; ; born 25 August 1981) is a Dutch professional tennis player from Curaçao, who specialises in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in November 2015.
He is a four-time Grand Slam champion, hav ...
. They were seeded eighth at the 2012 Australian Open, but only made it to the third round.
In May 2012, Aisam and Jean-Julien Rojer won the Portugal Open, Estoril Open Tennis Tournament Doubles title. After winning the Estoril Open, Aisam and Rojer went to Madrid unseeded. They caused an upset by defeating the Bryan Brothers to make it to the quarter-finals, but then lost to Bopanna and Bhupathi who were seeded seventh.
They went as tenth seeds to French Open, Roland Garros, breezed through to quarter-finals and then beat favourites third seeded Llodra Zimonjic, but lost in the semi-finals to the Bryan brothers.
Aisam-ul-Haq defended his Gerry Weber Open men's doubles title with Dutch partner Jean-Julien Rojer, defeating Conrad Huey (Philippines) and Scott Lipsky of the US, 6–4, 6–3. In the semi-finals, the top seeds defeated Poland's Łukasz Kubot and Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 6–2, 6–4.
"Many people thought that my win was a fluke last year. It's all come together and I’m very excited because it has just reaffirmed our confidence. Switching from clay to grass was difficult and I was feeling the pressure but we did well", the ''Express Tribune'' quoted him as saying.
"This win proves that I’m good enough. Both Rojer and I have continued the momentum we started in Estoril, then to the French open and now in Halle. I’m sure I’ll be able to improve my rankings by the time the US Open starts", he said.
Qureshi and Rojer played the UNICEF Open and the second seeds lost in quarter-finals.
Qureshi and Rojer were seeded eighth at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
. They won the first round against Wild Cards and passed over Qualifiers
Bobby Reynolds
Robert Thomas "Bobby" Reynolds (born July 17, 1982) is an American retired professional tennis player who resides in Auburn, Alabama. He was named head men's tennis coach at Auburn University in June 2016.
Professional career
Reynolds, a nativ ...
and Izak van der Merwe but after having an easy draw they lost in the third round to eventual winners
Jonathan Marray
Jonathan Marray (born 10 March 1981) is a former British tennis player and a Wimbledon Men's Doubles champion. Marray is a former top 20 doubles player, reaching a career high of world no. 15 in January 2013, mainly due to more regular appearan ...
and
Frederik Nielsen
Frederik Løchte Nielsen (born 27 August 1983) is a former professional tennis player. He was the top ranked player from Denmark in the ATP doubles world rankings. A former Wimbledon men's doubles champion, he peaked at no. 17 in the rankin ...
, 6–7
(5), 6–7
(4), 7–6
(4), 7–5, 5–7.
On 4 November, Qureshi and his partner Rojer were defeated by Indian duo
Mahesh Bhupathi
Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a major tournament (with Rika Hiraki). With his win at the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles, he ...
and
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
at the Paris Masters.
2013
![Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) (9637404811)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Aisam-ul-Haq_Qureshi_%28PAK%29_%289637404811%29.jpg)
In 2013, Aisam ul Haq won the doubles titles with Netherlands partner Jean-Julien Rojer at the Sony Open in Miami, Florida and the Stockholm Open in Stockholm, Sweden. Partnering with Rojer, Aisam also reached the Men's Doubles Quarterfinals at the U.S. Open.
In singles, Aisam ul Haq won two total matches while playing for the Pakistani Davis Cup team. He defeated Daniel King-Turner of New Zealand 6–2, 3–6, 3–0 (RET) and Dineshkanthan Thangarajah of Sri Lanka 6–2, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3.
2014
In 2014, Qureshi won the doubles title with
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, beating
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor ( ; sr, Данијел Нестор, Danijel Nestor; born September 4, 1972) is a Canadian former professional tennis player.
Nestor won 91 men's doubles titles (with 11 different partners), including an Olympic gold medal
...
and
Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjić ( sr-Cyrl, Ненад Зимоњић, ; born 4 June 1976) is a Serbian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
He is an eight-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2008 and 2009 Wimbledon Cha ...
. In Indian Wells, they went down in the first round against
Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
and Stanislas Wawrinka before a standing-room-only crowd, although they had been seeded sixth.
2015-2017
In July, Qureshi won the 2015 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships – Doubles, 2015 Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island alongside British player Jonny Marray.
Qureshi entered the 2016 US Open (tennis) doubles event, partnering with Sweden's
Robert Lindstedt
Robert Lindstedt (born 19 March 1977) is a Swedish former professional tennis player who specialized in doubles. He turned professional in 1998, and reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in May 2013. Lindstedt won his first Grand ...
where they lost in the quarterfinals to the top seeded French duo of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. Qureshi also played mixed doubles with China's Xu Yifan but they lost to Kazakhstan's
Yaroslava Shvedova
Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova (; born 12 September 1987) is a Kazakhstani former professional tennis player. Before 2008, she represented her country of birth, Russia.
She won one singles title and 13 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, plus o ...
& Brazil's
Bruno Soares
Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialises in doubles.
A doubles specialist, Soares won six major titles, the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 alongside Jamie Murray, and ...
in the first round.
In 2017 he won six titles:
In January the ATP 250 tournament in Auckland; on 30 April, the ATP 500 event in Barcelona, Spain alongside Romanian player Florin Mergea; on 11 June, the ATP Challenger in Surbiton, Great Britain alongside partner Marcus Daniell; on 30 June, the ATP 250 event in Antalya, Turkey alongside Lindstedt; on 17 July, the ATP 250 Hall of Fame in Newport, RI, alongside partner
Rajeev Ram; on 1 October, the ATP 250 event in Chengdu, China alongside partner Jonathan Erlich.
2018-2020
In 2018, Qureshi did not win any major tournaments, but reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 Australian Open with
Marcin Matkowski
Marcin Matkowski (; born 15 January 1981) is a Polish former professional tennis player whose speciality is in doubles. He played college tennis at UCLA, where Jean-Julien Rojer was one of his teammates. Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg won t ...
losing to the Bryan brothers and the final at the 2018 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell with
Jean-Julien Rojer
Jean-Julien Rojer (; ; born 25 August 1981) is a Dutch professional tennis player from Curaçao, who specialises in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in November 2015.
He is a four-time Grand Slam champion, hav ...
.
In June 2019, Qureshi won two ATP Challenger Tour in Ilkey and in Nottingham, Great Britain alongside partner Santiago González (tennis), Santiago Gonzalez. They also won the 2019 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships.
On 16 February 2020, Qureshi won the ATP 250 event 2020 New York Open alongside partner Dominic Inglot.
2021-2022
In 2021 he reached two more ATP 250 finals at the Emilia-Romagna Open and Stockholm Open with Austria's
Oliver Marach
Oliver Marach (born 16 July 1980) is an Austrian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles.
He achieved his highest singles ranking of world No. 82 in August 2005, but achieved most of his success in doubles where he reache ...
and Rojer respectively.
He reached the ATP final at the 2022 Melbourne Summer Set 1 partnering new partner Aleksandr Nedovyesov.
At the 2022 Australian Open he again partnered with Nedoyesov where they defeated seventh seeded pair of Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin.
At the 2022 Delray Beach Open he reached his second ATP final for the year with Nedovyesov.
Personal life
He married Faha Makhdum, a British woman of Pakistani origin, on 17 December 2011. In July 2012, it was rumored that Aisam and Faha had parted ways. Both families denied the news but later the couple announced their break-up. Makhdum said that they had not much time together during their marriage because of the busy schedule of tennis activities her husband had, which made her neglected as a wife for around thirty-eight weeks a year.
Career statistics
Grand Slam tournament performance timelines
Doubles
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam tournament finals
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
Mixed doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qureshi, Aisam-Ul-Haq
1980 births
Pakistani male tennis players
Punjabi people
Pakistani people of Kashmiri descent
Living people
Cricketers from Lahore
Tennis players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
Recipients of the Pride of Performance
University of the Punjab alumni
Tennis players at the 1998 Asian Games
Tennis players at the 2006 Asian Games
Asian Games competitors for Pakistan
South Asian Games silver medalists for Pakistan
South Asian Games bronze medalists for Pakistan
South Asian Games medalists in tennis
Commonwealth Games competitors for Pakistan
Islamic Solidarity Games competitors for Pakistan
Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in tennis
People from Lahore