Sunday, Nov 30, 2003
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Tennis
By Kamesh Srinivasan
Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan is all smiles after completing a hat-trick of titles in the ITF Futures tennis tournament in New Delhi on Saturday.
Watched by his family, the 23-year-old Aisam served and stroked with confidence, cutting down on the errors in the climax, while winning his third singles title in three weeks, following the ones in Thailand and Dehra Dun. It was also the third crown of the season from four finals for the Pakistani lad who had been doing well in doubles earlier. It could have been a lot easier for Aisam today but for his inability to move as well as he normally does. Eventually, Aisam's big serves had a say and Harsh was himself unable to force his tired legs to make a fight of it, especially in the second set, when the Pakistani looked vulnerable. It was Aisam who called the shots initially, breaking the 24-year-old Harsh in the fourth game with a backhand down-the-line winner on the second breakpoint. Harsh returned the compliment in the next game, coming up with his own backhand passing shot off the second breakpoint. Aisam then saved two breakpoints in the ninth game to take the set into a tie-breaker. After starting the tie-breaker with a passing shot, Harsh lost his way, making two volleying errors at 4-5 to lose the set and the initiative. The second set saw Harsh break Aisam in the fourth game with his best shot of the match — a rousing backhand crosscourt return winner. However, Harsh lost the edge in the next game, dropping serve after saving two breakpoints. Aisam went on to break Harsh at love in the ninth game and served out the match. Despite serving two of his 10 doublefaults in the last game, he slammed two aces too. This was the story of the match as Aisam had 10 doublefaults and 10 aces; he had seven service winners and 15 other winners. Harsh had one ace, courtesy Aisam who gave the point to his doubles partner after the linesman had called the serve long in the seventh game. It was a good gesture though Aisam had gained a stranglehold over the proceedings by then. Harsh hit 21 winners, including many passing shots, but was unable to match the Pakistani in physical energy. The biggest difference between the two players was that Harsh's serve lacked the sting and he had a poor 41 per cent first serve rate. In fact, the Pakistani made quite a few errors trying to attack Harsh's second deliveries. Aisam himself had only a success rate of 54 per cent with his first serves, but his second serves were quite impressive. Aisam collected $1,300 and 18 ATP points while Harsh had to be content with $900 and 12 ATP points. It was the first summit clash of the season for Harsh who won two titles, including his first in Canada, from four finals earlier. The challenge will continue in the next tournament to be held in Mumbai from Monday when Rohan Bopanna is expected to strengthen the field and renew his doubles combination with Aisam.
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