Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group II tie
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s doubles team thrashed Iran’s pair to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group II tie here at the Pakistan Sports Complex on Saturday.
The experienced duo of Aqeel Khan and Aisam ul Haq took just 75 minutes to beat the Iranian pair of Anoosha Shahgholi and Alborz Akhavan 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. Pakistan had also won both the singles on Friday.
It all went smoothly for Pakistan’s pair except near the closing moments of the match when rain threatened to ruin the home team’s celebrations.
Hardly a few drops of rain had fallen when Aqeel, who was serving for the tie, hastened his movements on the court to complete the kill.
“Definitely, we were worried about the rain as it started almost when we were about to finish the match. Luckily, we completed our job in time,” Aisam said at the post-match talk.
Aisam and Aqeel proved too strong for the Iranian pair. While Aisam’s serves and backhand sizzlers had no answer, Aqeel also showed signs of excellence in between. The national No1, however, looked a bit rusty on his own serve where he double-faulted no less than five times in the match.
“It was more because we were playing after a considerable gap. While Aqeel hardly plays doubles, it has been my forte in the recent past. I was trying to create a space for Aqeel where he could feel easy while playing his strokes. The lack of doubles experience sometimes came in his way,” Aisam said.
At 5-0 up, Pakistan’s pair was well set to take the first set without conceding a single game when Alborz narrowly hung on to his serve. It took Aqeel a few more minutes to see Pakistan go one set up in the doubles.
The second set followed the same trend as Anoosha and Alborz found it hard to tackle the class of the Pakistan duo. The bearded Anoosha, who was beaten by Aisam in the second singles on Friday, was broken at the start of the second set.
Aisam’s rasping backhand followed by Aqeel’s drop gave Pakistan a 2-0.
The Pakistan pair was soon leading 4-0 in the third set. Both put a good combined effort to break Alborz’s serve and then Aqeel held his own as Pakistan got well clear.
“We did not have to exert much as we were feeling at ease and were playing our normal game. The Iranians definitely were facing problems handling our shots. The surface suited us more. We fully utilized home conditions,” Aisam said.
Despite Aqeel having double-faulted twice in the dying moments of the second set, a powerful overhead by Aisam and his sizzling serves were enough to wrap up the second at 6-2.
As rain threats loomed, Pakistan started showing more aggression to put Iran under further pressure.
Though Akhavan held his serve, Aisam and Aqeel took little time to break both opponents’ serves to give Pakistan a 4-1 lead. They wrapped up the set and match at 6-2 before rain started pouring down.
“I am excited to see both Aisam and Aqeel playing with zeal. They have served Pakistan tennis in thick and thin and are still showing full commitment. The way they played today shows they are leaving no stone unturned to see the Pakistan flag flying high,” a beaming Rashid Malik, Pakistan’s non-playing captain, said.
He announced that Abid Ali Akbar and Abid Mushtaq will play Sunday’s (today’s) reverse singles.
“Our first priority was to win the tie. Now when we have won the tie we can allow our reserves to play the reverse singles,” he said.