Few youngsters picking tennis as career in Pakistan: Aqeel

KARACHI: Pakistan No 1 tennis player Aqeel Khan says he sees very few youngsters picking tennis as a career sport.

“If you see our huge population, the number of youngsters playing tennis is very small,” 41-year-old Aqeel Khan told PPI.

“I think youngsters and their families don’t think tennis is a lucrative sport to play in Pakistan,” said Aqeel, who has dominated men’s tennis for nearly two decades.

He said that Pakistan’s big cities such as Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad have enough infrastructures for the grassroots level but it was not enough for top tennis events.

Aqeel has regularly teamed up with Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Pakistan’s top player for Davis Cup ties. However, Aisam doesn’t feature in local events. Therefore, he doesn’t have a standing in the national rankings.

The duo holds the record for playing the most ties for Pakistan in the Davis Cup, and has the best doubles partnership for Pakistan.

Aqeel, the son of tennis coach Jamil Khan, said: “If I were to be given an option to go back again and choose a career then I would again choose tennis.

“It’s because I love this sport.”

His younger brothers Jalil Khan and Yasir Khan have played tennis and had top-five national ranking in the past.

Aqeeel said that tennis was struggling just like almost all other sports because of corona.

He advised the young players to keep themselves fit as much as possible.

“The courage you show and the hard work you do in difficult and testing times pay you back well,” he said.