Pak tennis star Aisam aims at World No. 1 spot in men’s and mixed doubles

LAHORE - Pakistan’s tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, who has been appreciated for his skills as well as humanitarian goals, has stated that his objective is to attain the top spot in the doubles category of the sport.

“It is my best achievement so far as my goal of reaching finals of a Grand Slam event has been achieved. Now my goal is to go further ahead to achieve another challenging task of being World No 1 in both the events,” the Dawn quoted Aisam, as saying.

Aisam was talking to reporters at the Lahore airport, where he got a warm welcome by tennis officials, fans and relatives for becoming the first Pakistani to reach the finals of two Grand Slam events.

In the men’s doubles final, he and his Indian partner Rohan Bopanna fought valiantly against world number one pair of Bob Bryan and his brother Mike, before losing it 7-6, 7-6, while in the mixed doubles final, he, pairing with Kveta Peschke of Czech Republic, lost 6-4, 6-4.

But tennis fans hailed his performances, as before competing in the US Open, Aisam and Bopanna’s world ranking was 35, which has now improved to six.

“My new world ranking of six in men’s doubles has raised my morale because now our pair is among top six of the world, posing a threat on others. But still it’s a challenge to get the top position, as the competition at this level is quite tough. But the prayers of my parents and the nation will help me to achieve this goal in near future,” Aisam said.

He said he felt proud, as his achievement had “conveyed a good and positive message about Pakistan to the world, as it came “at a very right time as the morale of the nation was low due to heavy flood losses and spot-fixing scam in cricket.”

The 30-year-old player informed that he had dedicated his achievement to the nation and flood-affected people, adding that he had “plans to generate funds for flood survivors by playing some matches against international players.” (ANI)