Pakistani tennis star Aisam has “made nation proud”, says his father

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq has made the entire nation proud, and though he could not win either of the two doubles of the US Open, reaching the finals has been his biggest achievement so far, the prodigy’s father- Ihtesham-ul-Haq- said.

“Aisam has made the nation proud and all members of our family are very happy and grateful to the Almighty,” the Dawn quoted Ihtesham, as saying.

“Frankly speaking, I was not expecting that my son will be playing the finals of the Grand Slam,” he added.

Aisam and his partner Rohan Bopanna of India are ranked 34 in the world in the doubles event. Aisam has been playing only doubles events for the last two years, due to which his singles’ ranking, once at 103, has now come down to 1,062.

He has won 46 Davis Cup ties for Pakistan, including 29 singles and 17 doubles, lost 13 singles and three doubles, and is most successful player of Pakistan so far.

Hailed by western media as a peace envoy for his humanitarian goals, Aisam received an award of Arthur Ashe Humanitarian, introduced by a Monaco organisation.

He also received the Pride of Performance Award in 2005, and the Pakistan government has recommended his name for Sitara-i-Imtiaz, which will be conferred on him on March 23, 2011.

Aisam belongs to a tennis family, as his mother Nousheen Ihtesham had won the national women title for 10 years and had also represented Pakistan in the Federation Cup, while his maternal grandfather was the All-India champion before 1947. (ANI)