Today, I’m going to write about a great Muslim sportsman who is Pakistan’s top ranked tennis star. You guessed it right; I’m talking about Aisam ul Haq Qureshi. The young player was athletic right from his tender years. Qureshi is a symbol of hard work and perseverance for not only the youth of Pakistan, but that of the entire Muslim world.
Childhood:
The little Aisam ul Haq was blessed to be a grandchild of former All British India Tennis Champion Adil Mansoor Tipu, and son of former Women’s Tennis Champion Nosheen Ihtisham. He was not interested in the game since his early years, when he used to play cricket and football. It was only at the age of 14 when his grandfather took special interest in turning Aisam into a tennis star. Indeed, they did a fairly good job!
Tennis Career:
In the year 1998, Aisam ul haq played as a Junior Tennis player and got his hands on 7th number worldwide. Young Aisam was devoted from the very beginning of his career. The same year turned him 18 and thus, entered him into professional tennis. He won his first Davis Cup match in 1998.
In 1999, Aisam improved his Ranking and jumped from 779th rank (in 1998) to 365th.
Year 2000 brought even more progress in his game play. He reached semi final of Davis Cup Group II, LTA Manchester Challenger, and Samarkand Challenger. Winnings in 2000 included LTA Men’s Challenger and Neride Prague Indoor. His rank improved to 261st at the end of 2000.
In 2001, he won Bukhara Challenger, Single Futures Title both at Thailand and Vietnam, and Doubles Challenger Title at Bangkok in King’s Cup. He ranked 251st.
Moreover, year 2002 brought much controversy for him, when Aisam partnered with an Israeli player Amir Hadad for Grand Slam (his first) at Wimbledon. They reached the 3rd round rather successfully, but couldn’t proceed after getting defeated by a Czech duo. Pakistan Tennis Federation was not very happy with Aisam’s pairing up with an Israeli player; they even threatened to expel him from the Davis Cup. Anyhow, things settled down after the intervention by the International Tennis Federation. The year ended with him suffering an injury and 265th ranking.
His third pairing with Hadad at Milan Open in 2003 earned both of them ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award; the message of acceptance they spread was well received. His ranking, though, dropped to 493rd place. However, his hard work paid off in 2004 when he ended up with 199th rank. Again, his ranking dropped to 450th place in 2005.
In 2007, Aisam got the golden opportunity to get into Wimbledon 2007 Men’s Singles. Due to his victories in doubles, he was given “Salam Pakistan” award. He was ranked 125th at the end of the year.
At SA Tennis Open 2010, Aisam ul Haq won himself the first ever ATP title. On June 6th, 2011, the young Muslim player achieved world number 8 ranking. In the current year, he has won Miami Doubles Open.
Aisam ul Haq has received many awards. He is a genuine example of try and try again. Pakistan is proud of having such a talented tennis player.
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