An Ace Called Aisam

The reason for his success may be his prowess as a tennis player; but it's also his good looks that got him noticed. This fresh faced, pleasant looking young man was first spotted by Khawar Riaz - the man responsible for making heroes more than heroines! While tennis is Aisam's passion Lahore-based Khawar managed to rope in the guy for a shoot in his studios. The same was also aired on HUM TV recently. Surprisingly it turned out quite well. The screen seemed to have instantly taken to this new find. Who knows while Aisam is busy making waves in sports, he may even be spotted modeling for various designers. With his kind of looks and attitude he's sure to create a stir on that front too.

Aisamul Haq made his presence felt at the international junior circuit as a teenager. Prior to that no one knew such an entity existed who would take Pakistan to heights of success with his superb performance at various levels, the most recent being the Davis Cup in India. He stunned all with his exceptional talents as a tennis player. After almost three decades the Pakistani tennis team went to India for the Davis Cup in early April 2006, and the one player who intimidated the Indians, more than anyone else was Aisam. Though Pakistan lost but Aisam earned a fresh fan-following in the sports fraternity.

It all started way back in the late 90s when Aisam enjoyed a successful junior career, finishing No. 11 in the world in 1998. That made him Pakistan's highest-ranked player ever on the international youth tennis arena. Even today he has retained that level of success and is the number one player of Pakistan who has won quite a few Davis Cup ties in recent years. Aisam is not the only one to have picked up a racket in his family. His mother Nausheen Ehtisham took up this sport as a youngster. She was also a national champion for several years and has represented Pakistan in the Fed Cup, the women's version of the Davis Cup. And it was from her father Khawaja Iftikhar Ahmad that Nausheen inherited a love for tennis. Iftikhar was an all-India tennis champion who represented both India and Pakistan in the Davis Cup. Iftikhar Ahmad is regarded as one of sub-continent's most accomplished tennis players of his era.

And now it is Aisam who will carry this legacy forward. It is always heartening for a parent to see his/her child excel in the sport they have been champions at. It was a similar story on the courts in India. After Aisam struck victory in one of the matches his mother rushed to the court and planted a big kiss on her son's cheek. This moment seemed to be a favourite with Pakistani photographers as their lens was quick to capture the moment. One of our leading English dailies also carried this photograph with an accompanying story on its front page.

Travelling back in time, once it was detected that Aisam had the makings of a champion his parents encouraged him to play tennis alongside his studies. After his initiation, it wasn't long before this youngster started to make an impression. He began to climb the ladder to success as a 16 year old in 1996. His father, Ehtisham Qureshi, especially helped Aisam in every possible manner not wanting his son to give up at any moment. He supported Aisam financially and soon the boy had carved a niche for himself on the world junior circuit. That's when he started to bag titles - both singles and doubles. It was tennis that made traveling a frequent feature with the boy. And it was also due to this sport that he got to see some of the most beautiful places in the world. By this time Aisam was the only Pakistani junior player to have featured in all four Grand Slams.

In the process the boy garnered the reputation of having defeated players like the American Andy Roddick. At that time Roddick was America's under-16 champion. Aisam also defeated several other top junior players like American under-18 champion Taylor Dent, British junior champion Simon Dickson, Russian junior champion Artem Derepaasco, European junior champion Oliver Rochus, and Australian junior ace Nathan Healy. By this time Aisam was making headlines. And not just in Pakistan but even internationally he was considered amongst the top players in the world. It was at this point that he decided to step into mainstream tennis. It was a daring decision for men's tennis requires a lot from you. Life in men's tennis can be difficult with the most talented ruling the roost. Under such intimidating circumstances, Aisam did not once falter. Rather, his determination to strike it big was stronger than ever. And soon enough he had started to make his presence felt on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) men's circuit as well as on the ATP arena.

It was in 1999 that Aisam decided to turn pro and began appearing in ITF Satellite, Future and Challenger tournaments all over the world. He won dozens of men's singles and doubles titles in all five continents of the world, establishing himself as one of Pakistan's most successful tennis players of all time. He rose to the top-200 world rankings in men's singles and was included in top-100 in the doubles. Aisam made history in 2001 by reaching the third round of Wimbledon, thus becoming the first Pakistani to achieve this feat. It was at this time that a call for imposing a ban on the boy was made for having decided to partner with an Israeli player. Aisam defended himself by saying that both the players knew that they would make a good team on court. Despite having featured in the men's professional games, Aisam has garnered fame with his performance in Davis Cup.

The Davis Cup is the world's biggest team tennis tournament and is held around the globe on an annual basis. Due to the growing commercialism in tennis, the tournament has over the years lost some of its gloss but not in countries like Pakistan. In our country, having made it to the Davis Cup is a big achievement. And today, the fact that Aisam is the most successful tennis player in Pakistan cannot be denied.

He first played the Davis Cup in 1998 and has since earned the reputation of being the only Pakistani to have accumulated the most wins. He has a 33-14 record in Davis Cup. He has won 20 of his singles matches and lost 11 while his doubles record is even better with 13 wins and just three losses. Aisam is most acclaimed for having shot down Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan last March in Lahore. Aisam defeated Srichaphan in four sets to give Pakistan an incredible 3-2 win over the top players. Aisam calls it his "most memorable" match. The year 2005 is a memorable year for Pakistan tennis as their team bagged gold medals in the Islamic Games held in Saudi Arabia. Pakistan won three gold medals and a bronze in the tennis competition of the Games. Aisam was a prominent figure in all three of the gold medal-winning performances in Taif. He won the singles title and also claimed the gold in the doubles event along with Aqeel Khan.

President General Pervez Musharraf hosted a reception in Islamabad for the victorious national tennis team in Saudi Arabia. He gave away cash prizes of Rs 3.7 million with the major portion going to Aisam (Rs1.7 million) and the rest to his team-mates. The President also decorated Aisam with the Pride of Performance Award during the ceremony. With so much happening for him, Aisam sure has a lot to look forward to!