Confident Aisam ready for American circuit

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KARACHI: Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi will look to put aside his Wimbledon disappointment and give his best in a series of international tennis events in North America later this season.

The Pakistani tennis ace flopped in the Wimbledon doubles event along with his Indian partner Rohan Bopanna last month. The Indo-Pak Express crashed out of the prestigious event at the first hurdle. Aisam was unable to make his presence in the mixed doubles event either as he lost in the second round in which he partnered Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic.

Soon after his Wimbledon exit, Aisam spearheaded Pakistan’s Davis Cup campaign against South Korea but failed to save his team from a crushing defeat earlier this month.

But there was happy news for Aisam’s fans when the tennis star got engaged to Faha Makhdoom, a Briton of Pakistani origin, after the Davis Cup assignment last week.

After a brief rest in his hometown Lahore, Aisam was scheduled to fly out for New York early Tuesday morning to feature in a series of world ranking tournaments in United States and Canada.

During his trip, Aisam will first appear in the ATP 500 Series Tennis Championship in Washington and later in two ATP Masters 1000 Series Championships in Montreal (Canada) and Cincinnati (USA). He will conclude his North American sojourn with an appearance in the US Open Grand Slam Tennis Championship at Flushing Meadows in New York in September. Last Aisam reached the final of the US Open men’s doubles event along with Bopanna. He also featured in the mixed doubles final of the 2010 US Open.

“I’m confident of giving my best in the upcoming tournaments,” said Aisam, who is placed in the elite top-ten club of the international doubles rankings.