Aisam easily win his first match in Hassan Tariq Rahim Masters Cup Tennis Tournament

Lahore: M. Abid Mushtaq overcame Jalil Khan in a thrilling encounter of Day three of men’s singles match of Hassan Tariq Rahim Masters Cup Tennis Tournament being held at the hard courts of Lahore Gymkhana Club on Tuesday.

Abid won the match in three sets 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. In the first set Abid broke serve of Jalil two times early on then held his service games to win the set 6-2. In the second set he again broke second game of Jalil’s serve to take lead of 3-0, however he could not keep up with the momentum and lost his next service game to level the set at 3-games all. Jalil then again broke Abid’s serve to take lead of 5-3 and eventually broke Abid’s next service game to win the set 6-3.
In the third set both the players were involved in long rallies and held serves till 4-games all. Abid broke the ninth game of the set of Jalil’s serve to serve for the match at 5-4. He held his service game to eventually win the marathon set 6-4. The match lasted nearly two hours.

In the other men’s singles match of the day, Pakistan No. 1 Aqeel Khan thrashed Faizan Khurram 6-0, 6-0. Faizan was no match to Aqeel’s booming serves and groundstroke’s and was outclassed in every department of the game by the 33 year old Champion.

In the women’s singles match, Mehreen Izhar came from behind to beat Mahnoor Ali 0-6, 6-1, 6-3. Mehreen started the match slowly having some back problems early on. She could not win a game in the first set and lost it 0-6. After having some treatment on her back, she came back strongly to win the senond set 6-1. In the third set both the players held serves till 3-games all, Mehreen broke Mahnoor’s serves at 4-3 to ultimately serve out the set and match 6-3.

In the men’s doubles, Aisam Qureshi pairing with Aqeel Khan easily overcame the pair of Imran Ali Asghar & Imran Bhatti 6-1, 6-1. It was very heartening to see huge number of crowd turning up to see their ace Champion player Aisam Qureshi in action. Although it was a one sided affair as the Davis Cup pair of Aisam-Aqeel showed their true class but the crowd support of the local pair of Lahore Gymkhana Club was very heartening.

In the other men’s doubles match, Usman Ejaz & Shahzad Khan beat Jamil Ahmad & Imran Ahmad in straight sets 6-0, 7-5. The first set was a one way show as Usman & Shahzad dominated the net and won 6-0. In the second set Jamil & Imran put up a brave fight and took the match to 5 games all. Usman & Shahzad broke Jamil’s service game and Shahzad eventually held his service game to win the match 6-0, 7-5.
RESULTS:
Boy’s Under-18 Singles: Muhammad Mudasir beat Hamza Bin Asif 6-2, 7-5. Muhammad Muzamil beat Saad Zafar 7-6 (9-7), 6-2. Arham Attique Khan beat Zaid Mujahid 6-0, 4-6, 7-5. Hasnain Manzoor beat Abdal Haider 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.