PTF president inaugurates renovated grass courts

KARACHI: President of Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) Salim Saifullah Khan on Sunday inaugurated the renovated grass courts at the Pakistan Sports Complex, Islamabad.

He played some points with Pakistan’s No 1 Aqeel Khan, who is in Islamabad these days and following a strenuous regime to prepare for the Davis Cup Tie in September. The PTF president expressed his satisfaction on the overall arrangements under way for the mega event. “The return of the Davis Cup to Pakistan in February this year, after a dozen years, was a huge achievement, thanks to President ITF David Haggerty and the ITF Board Members,” said the PTF president.

Pakistan are to play the final of the Zone Group II against Thailand in September. The winners will be promoted to Group I of the Asia-Oceania Zone. Pakistan are seeded first in the Group and Thailand second, so a tough competition is on the cards. 

As the hosts having the choice of courts, Pakistan’s top players, world-ranked Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan, opted to play on grass given their experience and style of play, and the fact that this is now a very sparsely deployed surface world-wide, due to the intensive labour required for maintenance.