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No more Rohan if Rojer clicks: Aisam Back To Main

KARACHI: Pakistan’s tennis ace Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi said on Monday that if his partnership with new teammate Jean-Julien Rojer produced good results, he would eliminate the option of joining India’s Rohan Bopanna again in future.

Qureshi achieved many a milestone with Rohan Bopanna, his Indian partner in doubles matches in the recent past. It was actually Bopanna who parted ways with Aisam in order to join compatriot Mahesh Bhupati, eyeing forceful participation in London Olympics later this year.

Qureshi, speaking at ‘Meet the Press’ at Karachi Press Club, said that this year he was committed to stay teamed up with Jean-Julien Rojer, who hails from Curaçao—a small island nation in the Caribbean. He is the only tennis player from his country in the top-1000 singles rankings.

Qureshi said he might consider joining Bopanna next year, but “if our combination produced some good results then I would continue playing with Jean-Julien and might not consider joining Rohan again”.

Qureshi recently performed brilliantly in Melbourne when he became the first player from his country to enter the quarterfinals of the Australian Open tennis tournament.

Aisam teamed up with Andrea Hlavackova of Czech Republic at the Margaret Court Arena to beat the formidable team of former world number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and rising Australian star Bernard Tomic in straight sets in the mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals of the year’s first grand slam event.

The 6-3, 6-3 triumph made him the first Pakistani player to have entered the last-eight stage in Australian Open history.

However, Qureshi fell in the third round of men’s doubles with Jean-Julien Rojer against the team of Eric Butorac (USA) and Bruno Soares (Brazil). “It was the first event with Rojer and a new team takes some time to make an effective combination. Rohan had powerful serves but Rojer is more agile. All the players have their strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully in two to three tournaments, we will start giving good results,” he said.

Aisam and Bopanna enjoyed a series of impressive performances on the international circuit during the time they played as a team. Popularly known as the Indo-Pak Express, the duo compiled a consistent season, reaching semifinals in seven tournaments, including the US Open, where they ended runners-up in 2010.

Qureshi said that he hopes to make it to the Olympics doubles, along with compatriot experienced Aqeel Khan. “My rankings at World doubles of No9 can help us qualify for Olympics. I have asked Aqeel to compete in more events to lift his rankings. That would help us in qualifying for Olympics, which would be the first ever Pakistani participation in tennis,” he stressed.

He said that he could team up with Indian Sania Mirza to make mixed doubles team in future but not now as the Indians are preparing for Olympics. “I might team up with her in future. She is also ranked in doubles top 10 and if she maintains her ranking, then a strong team could be formed with her,” he added.