Pakistani who beat Federer hopes to start a tennis revolution in his country

For more than two decades, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi singlehandedly carried Pakistan’s tennis hopes on the global stage.

Qureshi reached the 2010 US Open finals in doubles and mixed doubles, an achievement of epic proportions for a player who emerged from a cricket-obsessed country where tennis had no history to speak of and where squash and hockey — two sports in which Pakistan once produced world-beaters — had fallen into a bottomless pit of mediocrity.

At 45, Qureshi no longer wields a tennis racquet at the highest level, having announced his retirement last month.

Now in his new role as the president of the Pakistan Tennis Federation, Qureshi is leaving no stone unturned in an attempt to build a sustainable tennis ecosystem in his country.

A former world number eight in doubles who won 18 ATP titles and also made five Grand Slam semifinal appearances in doubles and mixed doubles, Qureshi is happy with the success of the recently-concluded Islamabad Challengers, the first ATP Challengers event in Pakistan.

In an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times, Qureshi opened up about his goals as a tennis administrator and how Roger Federer surprised him after he beat the Swiss tennis maestro in a doubles match at Basel.

Q. Congratulations on the success of Islamabad Challengers. It’s a great step to bring such events to Pakistan. You must be very pleased with the start…

I’m trying to do my best to promote tennis and bring international events to Pakistan, because that’s the only way I believe a sport can truly grow. For us, it’s very difficult to send players abroad regularly, so the best solution is to bring international events to Pakistan. That way, our players can earn ranking points and build international profiles at home. It’s a small start globally, but for Pakistan, it’s huge. We hosted our first-ever ITF J60 junior event, and next year the International Tennis Federation is giving us seven junior tournaments. That helps our players enormously—not just competitively, but financially as well. By the grace of God, all five junior events so far have been won by Pakistanis, and we now have three or four junior players with world rankings. And most importantly, we staged our first-ever ATP Challenger event in Islamabad. That is a massive milestone in our tennis history, and I’m very proud that, as president, we were able to make it happen. Step by step, we hope to attract bigger Challenger events and continue changing the tennis ecosystem in Pakistan.

Q. Unlike cricket, which often takes kids from the streets to stardom in Pakistan, tennis is an elite sport. So how challenging has it been for you to try to take the sport to different parts of the country?

Through our junior tennis programme, we’ve introduced tennis in many schools for children aged eight to ten. The biggest challenge, however, is infrastructure. Pakistan doesn’t have many public tennis courts. Most available courts are in private clubs that require paid memberships. That said, padel has exploded in popularity. There are now more than 500 padel courts across Pakistan. My idea is to introduce a mini-tennis programme on padel courts, because the requirements are very similar. We plan to engage padel court owners nationwide and roll out this initiative. If it works, it could significantly increase the pool of junior tennis players in the country.

Q. It’s even more incredible when we think of it that we are in 2025, and still, it’s a struggle for you to get more tennis courts for the public. That makes your own achievements as a tennis player even more remarkable. You won tournaments, you reached Grand Slam finals, and you became an ambassador for your country in a truly global sport…

Yes, I was the only one, so that was very rare. So it was my responsibility to present a nice, friendly image for my country. I always tried to conduct myself in the best way possible. I still remember the day I ended up beating Roger Federer (in a doubles match) in 2009 at Basel. After the match, when I shook his hand and told him that it was an honour to be on the same court as you, he said, ‘Bro, we played 10 years ago (1999) in juniors also’. I was surprised, I didn’t expect him to remember it, you know. I asked him, ‘You remember that?’ He said, ‘Of course, I remember that. You are the only Pakistani I ever played against. It’s very easy to remember you!” So that was a moment of pride that Roger Federer remembered me as a Pakistani, also, and that I am the only one. I’m sure a lot of people in tennis were surprised as well that I came from a country where tennis had no background, and yet I was able to get to the top and play amongst the top and against the best players in the world for a very long time.

Q. Now, you could have settled in a foreign country, but you chose to return to Pakistan, hoping to produce players for the future. Given the bureaucratic hassles, it’s not an easy job to do in Pakistan. But you seem to be up for the challenge…

 I have got a lot of love from my country because of tennis. I think God chose me out of 260 million people (in Pakistan) and gave me this gift of tennis that I’ve been able to represent my country for almost 25 years. And I feel like my job is not done yet, and my responsibility is not over yet. If I want to do full justice to the gift that God has given me, then I need to go all the way and try to play my part in promoting the sport, helping the players. Recently, I have been able to get some wild cards for our players in Tunisia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. I have got ITF tournaments and the ATP event in Pakistan. So, for someone who loves tennis, my job in the sport is not done yet. I have to try to change the ecosystem of the game in Pakistan. It’s not easy, but I have a goal and a dream to take Pakistan tennis to new heights. I am just focused on that, and I believe if you are pure and honest in your efforts, then you are going to be rewarded for it.

Rituraj Borkakoty

• 

Rituraj Borkakoty is Sports Editor and has spent more than two decades writing on his sporting heroes. He also loves an underdog story, so if you have one, share it with him. He would love to bring it to life.