ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s pair of Aqeel Khan and Shahzad Khan created history here on Saturday when they overpowered Pere Riba of Spain and France’s Luka Pavlovic in the doubles final of the Serena Hotels ITF Futures tournament at the PTF Complex.

Playing exceptional tennis and fighting it out for every point in front of home crowd, the Pakistan duo won the title 7-6(3) and 7-6(4) — to register the first-ever victory by the country in ITF doubles final.

Aqeel, the 37-year-old seasoned campaigner, played splendidly from the baseline while Shahzad ably supported him with his serves and volleys backed by some classic drop shots.

Though there was immense pressure of the final on both the pairs, the Pakistanis coped with it better and in the end came out winners while enjoying full support of home crowd.

In the first set the match started slowly as both the sides played cautiously trying to force the opponents to make mistakes.

The pace of the match increased gradually, with both pairs showing their skills and pushing their opponents to the limits. Both pairs held their services and the set was finally claimed by Aqeel and Shahzad on tiebreak 7-6(3).

In the second set, as the Pakistan pair led 5-2 the Riba-Pavlovic duo made a strong comeback managing to stop the advance of their rivals for a while.

Aqeel and Riba, the former world No.65 and grand slam player, remained engaged in long rallies as the French-Spaniard pair broke several serves of their Pakistani counterparts to reduce the lead.

When it was five all, some outstanding performance displayed by Riba and Pavlovic enabled them to edge ahead 6-5. However, the Pakistani duo then held their serve to make it 6-6.

In the tiebreak, again both the pairs exhibited aggressive tennis and ultimately the host duo finally managed to prevail when a powerful shot by Shahzad was not returned.

“This [doubles] victory is a great achievement, we are leaving a big challenge for our upcoming youngsters. The victory in ITF doubles was something missing in my career, which I achieved today,” a jubilant Aqeel told reporters after the final.

“Around 21 foreign players participated in this mega event and it is great honour for us to win the first-ever [doubles] title.”

Shahzad, who was as significant as his partner during the all-important final, said since he was pairing with Aqeel he had great confidence which helped him in contributing to the historic victory.

Acknowledging the guidance and training they received from former Davis Cupper Hameed-ul-Haq, the victorious pair said the coach played an important role in their triumph.

A delighted Hameed, meanwhile, hoped more titles would be claimed by Pakistan.

“For the first time a Pakistani pair has won the doubles final of ITF Futures. This great achievement will boost the confidence of our upcoming players who have great potential. I hope they will seize several international titles in future,” Hameed told reporters.

“When Aqeel and Shahzad upset the top seeds in the [doubles] semi-final, it was very much clear that they could subdue their opponents in the final too.”

PTF president Salim Saifullah Khan, who witnessed the final along with the federation patron Syed Dilawar Abbas, expressed his pleasure at the momentous occasion and congratulated the Pakistani pair on making history.

The men’s singles final will be played on Sunday between top seed Ivan Nedelko of Russia and the fourth seed Spaniard Pere Riba.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2017