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KARACHI Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi concluded a historic weekend in Pakistan's tennis history as he entered the men's and mixed doubles quarterfinals of the US Open in New York.
Teaming up with Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic, Qureshi entered the mixed doubles quarterfinals late Saturday, before he and India's Rohan Bopanna ousted tournament number two seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic on Sunday.
Qureshi, who holds several national tennis records, has formed a formidable partnership with Bopanna and the pair are currently ranked 15th in the ATP team rankings. Their successful run on the US tour circuit continued in the third round as they faced Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia on Sunday.
Qureshi and Bopanna took to the court against one of the tournament favourites under the scorching mid-day sun. The number two seeds looked set to dominate from the beginning as they earned three break points but the Indo-Pak duo held firm to avoid a break of serve. With the confidence of saving break points, Qureshi and Bopanna then looked to gain advantage, which came in the form of a break of serve against Nestor. The South Asian pair held on to the advantage and bagged the first set 6-3.
A crucial early break of serve from Qureshi and Bopanna against Zimonjic meant they commanded the second set over the world number two pair. Holding their own serve game after game, the self-titled 'IndoPakExpress' steamrolled to a straight-sets win in the biggest upset of the draw.
The Pakistani tennis star and his partner Bopanna will now face number nine seeds Wesley Moodey of South Africa and Dick Norman of Belgium in the quarterfinals.
Earlier, Qureshi became the first Pakistani to enter the mixed doubles quarterfinals of a grand-slam tournament as he and Kveta Peschke came back from behind to win (5-7, 6-3, 10-4) over Kazak-Austrian pair of Yaroslava Shvedova and Mark Knowle on Saturday.
In a tightly fought contest, Qureshi and Pescke lost the first set 5-7 but came back fighting to take the second 6-3, and then won 10-4 in the super tie break. They will now face Argentina's Gisela Dulko and Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas.
