Khwaja Saeed Hai (5 March 1930 – 31 March 2021) was a Pakistani No. 1

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, and the first Pakistani tennis player to reach the main draw of 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 ...

through qualifying matches. He featured in the main draw of 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 ...

in 1955 and 1956, and reached the second round of

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 ...

. He also played in the U.S. Open in 1964, and played in the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

for Pakistan. He studied at the

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

, where he honed his skills. AT Wimbledon he played men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles. Apart from playing in the Davis Cup, he captained Pakistan's Davis Cup team 32 times with results that have not been achieved by any other captain from the country. When the French Tennis Federation celebrated 100 years of French Championship at Roland Garros stadium, they built a commemorative wall displaying the names of players who had done well during the championship which included the name of Saeed Hai. Saeed Hai was also the founder President of the International club whose head office is in England. Membership is only open for Grand Slam and Davis Cup players. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) awarded him a gold medal at their annual general meeting held in Lausanne (Switzerland) before 300 delegates from 198 affiliated associations of ITF including Pakistan. He was

senior vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of the

Pakistan Tennis Federation Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) is the governing body of tennis in Pakistan. It has played a vital role in the development of domestic, national and international tennis in Pakistan, producing a number of young talented players. It also governs t ...

(PTF) and a sports legend in the country. Khawaja Saaed Hai died on 31 March 2021 at the age of 91.Pakistan tennis legend Saeed Hai passes away
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References

External links

Interview
1930 births 2021 deaths Pakistani male tennis players 20th-century Pakistani people {{Pakistan-tennis-bio-stub