The 27-year-old from Lahore shocked sixth-seed Gasquet in straight sets, knocking out the 20-year-old who is ranked 11th in the world, 293 places higher than Aisam.
Aisam was delighted to take out a seeded player in straight sets and after winning the first set on a tie-breaker, he put in a commanding display to take the second 6-4 as the Frenchman struggled to modify his game on grass.
“It's not about winning my first-round match, it's about beating a player ranked just outside the top 10,” said Aisam, who had the advantage of three qualify games over the weekend to get used to playing on grass.
“The hard work for the last 12 years is paying off, I learned a lot last year from some of the mistakes I made and I just kept telling myself I could do it.
“I went out with the clear plan of moving him around and it paid off.
“I had tie-breakers in both sets of my last two qualifying games over the weekend, so when it got to 6-6 in the first-set tie-breaker, I knew I had a good chance.
“Having normally played at Queen's and in Nottingham, I only decided to switch to Halle last year and the move has paid off in only my second appearance.
“I really enjoyed it last year, but I went out in the first round, but I am hoping to stay a lot longer this year.”
Aisam will play the winner of match between German No 1 Philipp Kohlschreiber and Dutch qualifier Raemon Sluiter.
His beaten opponent, Gasquet, looked stunned by the defeat, but said his Pakistani opponent deserved the win.
“I don't really know what went wrong,” said the French No 1.
“He seemed much happier on grass having played the qualifiers at the weekend, he really played well and served well.
“I got just one break-point, while he got several.
“I don't feel like I played badly, but I am very disappointed to go out of the first round, of course.”
In the day's other early games, Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, ranked 53rd in the world, eased into the second round with a 6-3, 7-6 (11-9) win over South African qualifier Wesley Moodie.
Santoro has a tough second-round assignment, against fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych from the Czech Republic.
German qualifier Simon Stadler beat wild-card compatriot Mischa Zverev in straight-sets 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) and will face seventh-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the second round.
Roger Federer, the world No 1 and top seed, withdrew from the tournament on Monday, citing fatigue after his French Open final defeat by Rafael Nadal on Sunday.
Tuesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
First round: Andrei Pavel (Romania) beat Olivier Rochus (Belgium) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); Florian Mayer (Germany) beat Michael Kohlmann (Germany) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5; Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) beat Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) 6-3, 6-1; Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan) beat 6-Richard Gasquet (France) 7-6 (10-8), 6-4; Fabrice Santoro (France) beat Wesley Moodie (South Africa) 6-3, 7-6 (11-9); Simon Stadler (Germany) beat Mischa Zverev (Germany) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
Monday’s results:
First round: 3-James Blake (US) beat Sam Querrey (US) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Evgeny Korolev (Russia) beat Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; 7-Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) beat Michael Russell (US) 6-2, 6-2; 4-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3); Benjamin Becker (Germany) beat Teimuraz Gabashvili (Russia) 6-4, 7-6 (7-1); Robin Soederling (Sweden) beat Stefan Koubek (Austria) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5; 8-Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) beat Gilles Simon (France) 6-3, 6-3.
SEEDS CRASH
LONDON: Britain's grass season claimed its first ATP tour victims on Monday when seeds Julien Benneteau, Lee Hyung-Taik and Fernando Verdasco fell at Queen's.
On a muggy, overcast day the trio failed to find their grass range and balance after the long clay season. The tournament is the traditional warm-up event for Wimbledon starting on June 25.
Spaniard Verdasco, ranked 38th in the world and the 16th seed here, was out-hit by big Belarussian Max Mirnyi 6-3, 6-3.
Benneteau, seeded 10 and ranked 61st, went out 7-5, 6-3 to Colombian Alejandro Falla, ranked 61 places lower. It was the fourth time on the trot that the 25-year-old Frenchman had been knocked out in the first round at Queen's.
Lee, the 13th seed lost 6-4, 6-4 to British No 3 Alex Bogdanovic.
Monday’s results:
First round: 11-Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) beat Justin Gimelstob (US) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Michael Llodra (France) beat Lu Yen-Hsun (Taiwan) 6-1, 6-1; Nicolas Mahut (France) beat Igor Kunitsyn (Russia) 6-4, 6-4; Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) beat Thomas Johansson (Sweden) 6-2, 6-4; Chris Guccione (Australia) beat Andreas Seppi (Italy) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4; 12-Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) beat Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3; Alejandro Falla (Colombia) beat Julien Benneteau (France) 7-5, 6-3; Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) beat Davide Sanguinetti (Italy) 6-2, 2-0 – Sanguinetti retired; Jamie Baker (Britain) beat Alexander Peya (Austria) 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; Alex Bogdanovic (Britain) beat 13-Lee Hyung-Taik (South Korea) 6-4, 6-4; Danai Udomchoke (Thailand) beat Oscar Hernandez (Spain) 6-2, 6-3; 14-Arnaud Clement (France) beat Ivan Navarro Pastor (Spain) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4; Max Mirnyi (Belarus) beat 16-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-3, 6-3; 15-Robby Ginepri (US) beat Richard Bloomfield (Britain) 6-4, 6-2.
KRAJICEK UPSET
BIRMINGHAM: Michaella Krajicek was upset in the first round of the grass-court Birmingham Classic on Monday, losing to Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
Sixteenth-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia and No 15 Eleni Daniilidou of Greece won at Edgbaston Priory Club. Kirilenko defeated Raquel Kops-Jones of the US 6-3, 6-3, and Daniilidou beat Laura Granville of the US 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).
Other seeded winners included No 9 Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine, No 12 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and No 13 Meilen Tu of the US.
Monday’s results:
First round: Olga Govortsova (Belarus) beat Eva Birnerova (Czech Republic) 6-7 (9-11), 6-4 (8-6), 7-6 (9-7); Sania Mirza (India) beat Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) 6-3, 6-3; Nathalie Dechy (France) beat Alberta Brianti (Italy) 6-3, 4-1— Brianti retired; Yaroslava Shvedova (Russia) beat Katerina Bondarenko (Ukraine) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) beat Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4); 16-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Raquel Kops-Jones (US) 6-3, 6-3; Andreja Klepac (Slovenia) beat Ekaterina Bychkova (Russia) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3; Yuliana Fedak (Ukraine) beat 14-Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; 12-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat Anne Kremer (Luxembourg) 6-1, 6-3; Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) beat Bethanie Mattek (US) 6-3, 6-0; 9-Julia Vakulenko (Ukraine) beat Sun Tiantian (China) 6-2, 6-1; 15-Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) beat Laura Granville (US) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); 13-Meilen Tu (US) beat Roberta Vinci (Italy) 6-1, 6-2; Lilia Osterloh (US) beat Varvara Lepchenko (Uzbekistan) 7-6 (9-7), 6-3; Ahsha Rolle (US) beat Abigail Spears (US) 6-4 6-3; Casey Dell'Acqua (Australia) beat Yan Zi (China) 6-2, 6-2.—Agencies