LISBON, Portugal: Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan advanced to the semifinals of the Men’s 45+ Doubles at the ITF Masters World Individual Championships on Thursday after defeating a Spanish pair in a thrilling quarterfinal.
The Pakistani duo beat Francisco Javier MartÃnez Baena and Pedro Nieto Orellana 6-7, 7-6, 10-2 at the Jamor Tennis Center, completing an impressive comeback after losing the opening set.
Aisam and Aqeel were under pressure in the second set and saved two match points before forcing a tiebreak. They won the set 7-6 before dominating the deciding match tiebreak 10-2 to secure their place in the semifinals.
The Pakistani pair will face a Ukrainian duo in the semifinals as they bid to reach the championship match. The 40-45 World Individual Championships are being held in Lisbon and Oeiras, Portugal, from Aug. 8 to 15.
Both Aisam and Aqeel have also reached the semifinals of the 40+ Mixed Doubles with different partners. Aqeel, partnering Germany’s Eileen Aranas-Roth, advanced after defeating Portugal’s Caterina and Joao Ferreira 4-6, 7-6, 10-4.
Aisam, partnering Austria’s Nina Hermann, reached the mixed doubles semifinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Germany’s Katherina Rath and Thomas Bergmeister.
More read, Aisam-ul-Haq retires after glorious tennis career
The latest results cap an impressive campaign for Pakistan at the Masters championships. The country recently won a historic silver medal in the Men’s 45+ World Team Championships, finishing runners-up to Spain.
