January 26, 2002	Saturday	Ziqa’ad 11, 1422

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

LAHORE, Jan 25: Aisam-ul-Haq qualified for the quarter-final of the Abu Dhabi Open Tennis Championship defeating Taiwanese Davis Cupper Yen Tzuoo Wang 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), at the Abu Dhabi Airport Golf Club, according to a message received here on Friday.

Aisam-ul-Haq now will face Filippo Messori of Italy in the quarter-final.

The match lasted for one hour and 15 minutes. This was the third consecutive win of Aisam over Wang during the last three months. He beat Wang in international tennis championships in Thailand and Japan in November and December.

Aisam put enormous pressure on his rival with big serves and deep volleys and won the first set 6-2.

In the second set, Aisam was able to break Wang’s serve in the ninth game to take 5-4 lead but was broken back when he was serving for the match. Both the players kept firm grip on their next service games and at 6-6 the tie-breaker was played. Aisam with sizzling forehand winners managed to win the tie-breaker with a score of 7-5.