Aisam relishes playing Davis Cup tie at home

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ace tennis player Aisam-ul-Haq has said the Asian Oceania Group II Davis Cup final against Thailand would be a tough challenge, predicting that grass court advantage may come handy to Pakistan in deciding the tie.

The final is to be held at Pakistan Sports Complex courts from September 15-17. Aisam, who reached here the other day after completing his engagements in US Open, told ‘The News’ after training that the surface was of international standards. “I am pleased to see these grass courts. These courts are of high quality and equal to the best available anywhere. I had a brief outing on these courts. “Hopefully the next few days would give us good opportunity to practice.”

The international tennis star rated Thailand as one of the toughest teams in Asia. “They are very good, possibly one of the best Davis Cup teams in Asia. They are as good in singles as in doubles. Their doubles pair was rated amongst the top 50 in the world recently. The experienced pair also won gold recently,” he added.

The former US Open doubles finalist, however, hopes that the grass court and home atmosphere might come handy. “All these years we have been missing the home advantage. Now that Davis Cup is back in Pakistan, we hope to make maximum use of home conditions. Grass courts here are good and hopefully we would be in position to take home advantage. It is a tie where you cannot determine the winner easily. The team making the best use of their strong points would emerge winners,” he said.

Aisam hardly plays singles these days and mostly concentrates on doubles and mixed doubles. “I stopped playing singles internationally long time back. But when it comes to playing for the country, I always accept the toughest of challenges.”

He declared himself ready to play the opening day singles. “I know everyone is looking towards me and Aqeel Khan to deliver for the country. We are ready for the big challenge and would give our best in the singles and doubles,” he said.