Aisam ul Haq Qureshi Falls in Epic French Open Quarterfinal

By Parvez Fatteh, TMO, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Pakistan’s Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and his Indian doubles tennis partner Rohan Bopanna put on quite a show in Paris, but they ultimately fell to their American arch rivals, the Bryan brothers. Qureshi and Bopanna took a stirring first set 7-6, 7-2 in the tiebreaker. But the Bryan brothers rebounded with a 6-3 second set victory. And everything then came down to a third set that once again ended in a tiebreaker, but this time in the Bryans’ favor, 7-3.

In the previous round, Qureshi and Bopanna, the number five seeded men’s team, dispatched of the team consisting of Kazakhstani Andrey Golubev and Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-3, 7-5 in the fourth round to reach the quarters. And in the quarterfinal round the Indo-Pak Express will face their nemeses, the American team of brothers Mike and Bob Bryan. The Bryans, in the fourth round, ironically also took out a Kazakhstani, as well as a Russian.

Back in September the Bryan brothers defeated Qureshi and Bopanna in the finals of the U.S. Open, after which Qureshi gave a stirring speech about the plight and misunderstanding of his home nation of Pakistan. This time Qureshi, and Bopanna, were hoping to do all of the talking with their rackets to avenge their previous defeat. But, the defeat notwithstanding, Qureshi and Bopanna certainly got the attention of all onlookers at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris.

13-23