Aisam To Play In Main Draw Of US Open

Saturday, August 23, 2008 at 7:43 pm

LAHORE :Pakistan’s tennis ace, Aisam ul-Haq will become the first Pakistani in 34 years to appear in the US Open main draw in the singles event next week after qualifying through a tough round of matches.

Having already gained direct entry to the doubles event with partner Rohan Bopanna of India, Aisam was participating in the singles qualifying event this past week. In order to qualify, a player needs to win three best-of-three-sets matches in a row. In this regard, the draw was not a kind one for Aisam.

In the first round, he beat Ricardo Mello of Brazil a former world number 50 with a score line of 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

The second round saw Aisam face off against Leonardo Mayer, the 21st seed Argentine, who only recently defeated Aisam in a tournament in Brazil. Mayer is ranked at 139 on the ATP list and his 6-2, 6-2 decimation of Brydan Klein in the first round showed that he was in good form.

In an exhibition of great skill, neither player was willing to yield to the other but in the end Aisam’s perfection led him to a 6-4,7-6(9) win.

Onto the third round now, and Aisam came up against the Czech Jan Hernych, who, with a ranking of 120, was seeded 8th in the qualifying draw. He is a former world number 60, and this showed throughout the course of the match.

Both players held their first service games, but Aisam was shaken a bit at 1-1 when Hernych forced him to deuce twice before he could hold his serve. At 3-3 however, Hernych pushed harder on Aisam’s serve, and the Czech made use of his only break point in the set to go ahead 4-3. Not looking even close to dropping his serve after that, Hernych saw the set out 6-4.

The next set saw Aisam immediately put under pressure, having to save two break points before he could hold his serve. In comparison, Hernych did not let Aisam get even close to breaking serve, and in the fifth game of the set, he broke Aisam’s serve to go ahead 3-2. As before, Hernych looked all too comfortable on his own serve, and saw the set out 6-3.

At this stage, there was a glum atmosphere in the Pakistani camp. Fate, however, had other things planned for Aisam. In a new system initiated by the ATP, players who lose in the final round of the qualifying draw have their names put in a ballot, and from this, names are drawn of players who will be allowed entry into the main draw as lucky losers in the event of a withdrawal of any of the main draw players. Lady luck smiled on Asiam as his name came out in the ballot.

It is first time since 1974 that the Pakistan flag will show in the singles main draw at the US Open, and Aisam faces up against Carlos Moya of Spain in the first round. This promises to be a great encounter with the former world number 1. Aisam has also to look forward to the doubles draw, which is yet to be revealed.

Aisam To Play In Main Draw Of US Open

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