ISLAMABAD: Insisting that holding the ATP Challenger Tour for the very first time later this month is a great success of the country, Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) president Asiam-ul-Haq on Wednesday said that the contest could be a game changer noting that three local wildcard entrants will feature in the main round.

Pakistan will be hosting the ATP Challenger at the PTF Complex in Islamabad from Nov 24-30.

Players from different countries will be seen in action with main draw containing 24 contestants.

Sweden’s Elias Ymer, who is world number 169, is the event’s top seed followed by second seed Britain’s Jay Clarke (213) and Saba Purtseladze (290) of Georgia, seeded third.

There are six players in the international ranking bracket of 400-600 who will be vying for victory in Islamabad.

A number of lower-ranked players will also be seen in action including Italy’s Simone Agostini, the world number 2138.

Pakistani has given wildcards to three local players in the main draw — Muzammil Murtaza, Mohammad Shoaib and veteran Aqeel Khan.

“A match referee from Russia and a supervisor [from Canada] have arrived in Islamabad while the foreign players will start arriving from Thursday [today],” said Aisam while talking to Dawn.

Answering a query about lower-ranked entries of international players in the Islamabad event, the PTF chief said that Pakistan’s primary focus was hosting this mega event for the first time.

“Our focus is to hold this event successfully, this is [only] beginning. Next year, we will hold another event with bigger prize money, which will attract higher-ranked players,” Aisam said.

“Our local wild card entrants have a great chance to improve their [international] ranking. All of them are experienced players who have displayed impressive performances over the years in various national and international events.”

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2025