Aisam, Matkowski reach quarters in Melbourne

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Aisamul Haq Qureshi has reached the Australian Open men’s doubles quarter-finals for the first time as together with his Polish partner Marcin Matkowski, the pair was awarded a walkover win in the pre-quarters on Saturday.

‘The News’ has learnt from sources close to Aisam that their pre-quarter-final opponents Hyeon Chung of South Korea and Radu Albot of Moldova have opted out of Sunday’s (today’s) match.

The talented Chung upset world No 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany in five sets in their men’s singles match on Saturday and his next opponent is Serbian star Novak Djokovic.

“Chung is possibly eyeing a tough fourth round match against Djokovic and that might be a reason for their withdrawal,” the source in Melbourne said.

Aisam and Matkowski are the 16th seeds in the Australian Open. The Pakistani is also competing in the mixed doubles. He and China’s Zhaoxuan Yang have made it to the round of 32 in Melbourne.