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Dubai Duty Free Tennis: Qureshi enjoying being part of 'new-look' Indo-Pak express

Playing alongside Rohan Bopanna, Pakistan’s Qureshi enjoyed much success until 2021, after which he teamed-up with India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan this year

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Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (right) with India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan. — Photo by Ehaab Qadeer

by Leslie Wilson Jr

Published: Wed 1 Mar 2023, 11:02 PM

He was a key component of the ground-breaking tennis pairing that was popularly known as the 'Indo-Pak Express.' Now Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi has a new partner with whom he hopes to have more fun on the tour.

Playing alongside Rohan Bopanna, Pakistan’s Qureshi enjoyed much success until 2021, after which he teamed-up with India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan this year.

Despite losing their first match in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, a 6-4, 3-6, (10-5) defeat to Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen of Belgium, Qureshi was looking at the positives in the match.

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“This is only the second time we're playing together,” he said. “I've known Rama for a long time. We were in Melbourne, I asked him if he had somebody for the Dubai Open as it was close to home, one of my favourite tournaments.

“We both started a little bit slow. As the match progressed, we found our game and got better. Super tiebreaker is like Russian roulette: a few points go here and there. That makes a difference

“I have had good results here in the past. I made the finals. And I even won it with Bopanna, in 2014,” he added.

Qureshi revealed that everything fell into place once he and Ramkumar decided to play in Dubai.

“We just applied for it. Salah Tahlak (Tournament Director) has been very kind. He gave us a positive response in Australia,” he said. "We were super happy that we got the wild card. Really appreciate it. Unfortunately, we lost a very close match here.

“But it is good to be competing with Rama. Hopefully, I can get to play with him again this year and the years to come, and show better results.”

Qureshi, who has won 18 ATP titles since he turned pro in 1998 and also reached a career-high world ranking at eight, said that the chemistry with Rama, who plays both singles and doubles, was very strong.

“I know him off the court really well. That helps,” said Qureshi. "We were talking and communicating on court. I was happy to play in front of my family. My parents came, and my wife was there.

“There were a lot of people from Pakistan, and India. It’s always good to see they're cheering for the same team.”

Qureshi was happy to talk about bridging the political gap by playing with somebody from another country, despite the strained relations that the two countries have shared in recent years.

“I've always stood for it. I'll carry on standing for it,” he said. “We got to keep sports away from politics. I really feel that. A lot of other sports in Pakistan and India get affected.

“For me Indian players, not just Ram or Rohan Bopanna, they're some of my closest friends on the tour. We share so many things, food, culture, music, movies, and all this kind of stuff. It just comes naturally.

“Politically, obviously there's a lot of difference. I hope those boundaries can be taken away. Pakistan and Indians can play together a lot and against each other as well. Cricket, as well. Just in general,” he added.

“I miss going to India. It's not easy now to get a visa. It takes a longer time to apply for visas. Would love to go back to India and play. Always had great times there. Hope things can get better.”

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Leslie Wilson Jr

Published: Wed 1 Mar 2023, 11:02 PM

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