LAHORE, Jan 4: Aisam ul-Haq, Pakistan’s lone entry on the ATP tennis circuit, made it to the semi-finals of the doubles event at the Chennai Open in India when he along with Croatian partner Marin Cilic defeated the second seeded Czech/Slovak pair of Jaroslav Levinsky and Michal Mertinak.

It was a tough fight but Aisam and Cilic notched the win 6-1, 7-5.

In a somewhat different game after an easy first set with two break points, the second set saw the pairs tied at 4-4. The Europeans eventually held the serve with a 5-4 lead. But Cilic changed it to 5-5 by holding his own after being 40-40. With the Europeans’ next serve broken, it was all but left to Aisam to wrap up the set along with the match.

The year has started very well for Aisam and it can get even better if in their next match Aisam and Cilic are able to defeat the Ratiwatana twins, Thailand’s preferred Davis cup doubles team, a force to be reckoned with on the doubles circuit.