About Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi: Pakistani tennis player (1980-)
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (Urdu: اعصام الحق قریشی; born 17 March 1980) is a Pakistani professional tennis player. He is currently the top player in Pakistan. The top 10 in doubles and the highest ranking in singles is No. 125. The only Pakistani tennis player to reach a Grand Slam final, he played in the 2010 US Open in mixed doubles (with Květa Peschke) and men’s doubles (with Rohan Bopanna).
As Pakistan’s No. 1 player, Qureshi has traditionally led Pakistan’s Davis Cup matches. After shocking New Zealand to avoid relegation in the 2004 Asia/Oceania region Group 1 second-round play-off, he took New Zealand to the World Group play-offs for the first time in 2005, before being beaten by Chile. He won the most Davis Cup matches for Pakistan, becoming the country’s most successful singles and doubles player ever. He is also one of the most successful doubles duos (with Aqeel Khan) in Pakistani sports history.
early life
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi was born into a Punjabi family and grew up in Lahore, Pakistan, where swimming, cricket and football were his favourite pastimes at his alma mater, Crescent Model High School. He started playing tennis at the age of 14 when his maternal grandfather and first coach, former 10-time national champion Khawaja Iftikhar Ahmed, took him to a tennis club in Model City, Lahore.
Before Pakistan split from India in 1947, his maternal grandfather Khawaja Iftikhar Ahmed was the All India Champion. His mother, Nosheen Ihtsham, is also a former women’s tennis champion. At 16, the ITF sponsored him for two years. He won the Pakistan International Youth Championship and the Casablanca Cup and the LTA International Youth Championship in Roehampton in Mexico, where he beat Olivier Rochus, Andy Ram and Taylor Dent. At the World Super Junior Championship, he beat Andy Roddick. By the age of 18, he was a junior player in the top 20 and decided to turn pro.
Issam was educated at Punjab University.
coach
As a junior, he was mentored by LTA. Aisam has been coached by American Robert Davis since 1998. Robert Davis has coached the national teams of Peru, Panama, Thailand and Indonesia.As a writer, he writes for the ATP Divide Magazine, US Tennis Magazinetennis net, Australian Tennis Magazineand ITF publications, as well as non-sports publications and newspapers.
playing style
Qureshi prefers the faster grass courts, and he has had the most success on grass and hard courts. His style of play is to serve and volley, relying on his serve to put pressure on opponents to win points.
sponsor
Qureshi’s clothing and shoes sponsor is Lotto. On March 29, 2008, Aisam signed a one-year coaching sponsorship deal with PepsiCo. He became the first Pakistani athlete not to be a cricketer, he starred in a Pepsi commercial and became one of their brand ambassadors.
Awards and Honors
Qureshi teamed up with Israeli player Amir Hadad during the 2002 Wimbledon and US Open. He is now a member of the “Champions of Peace” club, a club of 54 athletes dedicated to serving world peace through sport, run by Peace and Sport, an international organization based in Monaco.
In November 2010, Aisam was appointed as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador.
In 2010, Issam was awarded the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year Award along with his doubles tennis partner Rohan Bhopana of India. Along with Bopanna, Qureshi received the 2010 Peace and Sport Image of the Year award for their efforts to spread the message of peace through sport. Qureshi and his doubles partner Popana also launched a campaign called Stop the War, Start Tennis, which is aimed at playing on the border between India and Pakistan.
He was also the 2002 President of Pakistan Award for Merit, the 2007 Salam Pakistan Youth Award from the President of Pakistan, and a runner-up in the 2003 Anne Frank Moral Courage Award from the Anne Frank Trust, UK.
In 2011, he was awarded the Lux Style Award for Most Fashionable Sports Personality.
Profession
junior
Qureshi has had success in junior tennis, ranking first. World No. 7 in 1998, making him Pakistan’s highest-ranked player ever in international junior tennis. Qureshi turned pro in 1998.
1998
On September 25, he won his first Davis Cup match against Danai Udomchoke. He was paired with Mohamed-Khaliq Siddiq and won the doubles match. They helped Pakistan beat Thailand 3-2 in the Asia/Oceania Regional Group II Finals and advance to Group I.
On September 28, he played his first professional match and reached the doubles final of the Japan Future Championship. He also had a good start to his singles career, reaching two Futures quarter-finals in Pakistan and Japan, finishing the year at No. 1. 779.
1999
Aisam reached the quarter-finals of his first Challenger Championship in Kolkata, but lost to Indian Leander Paes. Pakistan lost 4-1 in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Region Group 1 quarter-final against Uzbekistan, with Issam winning the only rubber. Paired with Dmitry Tomashevich, he won two doubles futures titles in Turkey.
In the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania I relegation play-off final, China beat Pakistan 3-0 to send them back to the second group. Qureshi went on to win his first Futures singles match against Danai Udomjok on a hard court in Indonesia in October. In Vietnam, Issam won the doubles futures title with Mark Nelson. It was followed by another singles futures victory for Bangladesh on clay, winning in straight sets. Aisam ended the year at No. 1. Singles 365, no. Doubles 355.
2000
In January, he led Pakistan to a 3-2 victory over Hong Kong Asia/Oceania Group 2 quarter-finals. Issam then started to race more at the Challenger circuit, reaching the semi-finals at the Indian Oil Servo Cup in Kolkata in February, where he was beaten by Tuomas Ketola. In the Davis Cup Group 2 semi-finals, Chinese Taipei defeated Pakistan 3-2, with Issam winning two of his three matches. In May, he partnered with Dmitry Tomashevich to reach the semi-finals of Samarkand Challenger in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Aisam reached the semi-finals with partner Jamie Delgado at the LTA Manchester Challenger in Manchester, UK.
In July, he played at the Teide Open in Istanbul, Turkey, and reached the quarterfinals, where he was defeated 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 by Oleg Ogorodov. Back in the UK, he took part in the LTA Men’s Challenge in Wrexham, where he won 6-4, 6-2 in the final with Italian Daniele Braacciali. With that, Issam also won his first Challenger Tag Team title.
He won the future tag team title in France with Israeli Norm Bell. Together they participated in the Bukhara Challenge in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, where they reached the final. Aisam won the future singles title in Vietnam, beating Jaroslav Levinský 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, and won the doubles title with Ashley Fisher in the same match. Aisam won the year at the Neride Prague Indoor in Prague, Czech Republic, where he was paired with Kristian Pless.
He ranked 261st in singles and 211th in doubles in 2000.
2001
Aisam played his first ATP tournament at the Chennai Open in Chennai, India, with his partner Vadim Kutsenko of Uzbekistan. They defeated Czech duo Petr Kovačka and Pavel Kudrnáč 6-1, 6-7, 6-4. However, they were eliminated 2-6, 0-6 by Zimbabweans Byron Black and Wayne Black. In the Davis Cup, he was unable to help Pakistan as they lost 3-2 to Chinese Taipei in the Asia/Oceania Group 2 quarterfinals. He traveled to Mumbai, India for the MTNL ATP Challenger, where he reached the doubles semifinals with Dennis van Scheppingen. At the Heineken Challenge in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, he reached the doubles semifinals again, this time with Denis Golovanov.
He helped Pakistan beat Syria 5-0 in the Davis Cup relegation play-off semi-final in April. The Fergana challenger, based in Fergana, Uzbekistan, was still in the semifinals with Golovanov, but again failed to advance. In the UK he played for Wrexham Challengers in Wrexham; he advanced to the singles semi-final but was eliminated 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 by Ladislav Svalk. While he did reach his first Challenger-level doubles final of the year, now with new partner Luke Bourgeois, they fell to the final hurdle.
Asiam returned to Uzbekistan for the Samarkand Challenger tournament in Samarkand, where he reached the singles quarterfinals with partner Kirill Ivanov-Smolensky Reached the doubles semifinals. He stayed in Uzbekistan for the Bukhara Challenge, where he won 6-2, 6-4 with his Dutch partner Roger Wassen.
He won the single futures title in Thailand, beating Wang Yaozi 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. It was followed by a match against Yen-Hsun Lu in Vietnam. He ended the year by winning the doubles challenger title with Jaroslav Levinský at the 69th King’s Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. Aisam ranked 251st in singles and 170th in doubles.
year 2002
In February’s Davis Cup, he won two matches as Pakistan beat Malaysia 4-1. In the next Davis Cup match against Chinese Taipei, he won all three matches as Pakistan qualified for the Asia/Oceania Group II final. Aisam and Tuomas Ketola won the doubles futures title in Kuwait. At the Fergana Challenge in Fergana, Uzbekistan, he and Kitora failed to win in the doubles final.
Asiam qualified for his first Grand Slam at Wimbledon with doubles partner Amir Hadad. This pairing has caused a lot of controversy. In the first round, they defeated Martin Rodriguez and Tom Van Houter 7-5, 7-6, 7-6. In the second round, the Pakistan-Israel combination eliminated No. 11 seeds Ellis Ferreira and Rick Leach 6-4, 6-4 and 6-4 to advance to the third round, which knocked them out. They were eventually beaten by seventh-seeded Czechs Martin Damm and Cyril Suk. Issam is under threat of expulsion from the Davis Cup by the Pakistan Tennis Federation. Although Issam did have the support of Pakistan’s Davis Cup captain. “I don’t like religion or politics interfering with sports,” Aisam said. “We’re not here to change anything – politics and governments do. We’re just here to play the game and enjoy it.” The ITF eventually intervened, forcing the PTF to withdraw their threat.
He won his first Challenger doubles title of the season with Dejan Petrovic at the West of England Tennis Championships in Bristol, England. Next, at the Manchester Cup in Manchester, England, he won the doubles title with Carol Baker, although he was beaten by Baker in the singles semi-final. Aim won his third consecutive doubles challenger title when he won the Hilversum Open with Stefano Pescosolido in Hilversum, the Netherlands. His doubles streak was broken at Wrexham, England at Wrexham Challengers in July…
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