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WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2007

Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi

LONDON, ENGLAND

Q. How was it? It was entertaining out there.
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: I was trying to do it. A little bit sad that I was not able to pull the third set off. I had a set point, a lot of break points, also, but I guess he proved that he's been following world No. 1 and he played the big points really well. I was hoping for him to get frustrated, that's what everybody was telling me.

Q. He does, he kicks it into the stands.
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: But I think today he was pretty cool headed. I was trying to keep holding my serves to put pressure a little bit, but he played the big points really well.
I was hoping he was going to break a racquet here or there, but he didn't.

Q. Was that what people was telling you before the match?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: No, but just if you stay with him he's not confident at the moment, so if you give him some trouble and keep holding your serves and frustrate him, probably he's going to give you some cheap points.
But every time I had a break point or set point he came up with really big shots and big serves. That just proves he's a world class player.

Q. Was there a call that you were upset with in the third set?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: I think it was more that I wanted it to be in (laughter). I don't know, it probably could have been either way.

Q. Do you have any idea what kind of response you've gotten back from your home country?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: I'm just hearing from people. Like I think I've just heard everybody is going crazy. It has never happened in Pakistan history that someone has qualified and won the first round.
As a player I'm pretty satisfied because in Pakistan people don't know that much about tennis but everybody knows about Wimbledon. As a player I think I do have to start winning bigger tournaments for people to recognize the sport and me.
So far I've heard nobody is thinking cricket or talking cricket, so it's a good feeling.

Q. Was your mom a national player?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: My mother, yeah, was national champion for ten years in Pakistan, Nosheen Ihtishan, and my grandfather, he was Indian No. 1 before partition, when India and Pakistan used to be the same country.

Q. What's your mother's name?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Nosheen Ihtishan, N-o-s-h-e-e-n I-h-t-i-s-h-a-n.

Q. Did she get you introduced to the sport, or how did that happen?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Out of all my brothers and sisters I was the most sporty one. When I was younger I always used to play all the sports, so I was master of none. But when I was 14 years old she just took me to the tennis club and we used to play.
It was summer holidays, and I just had an excuse to run away from my homework. I just started when I was 14.

Q. That's pretty late kind of to start.
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Yeah, I used to play cricket in my school and soccer and stuff like that, and in a way she just wanted me to give it a shot. I never thought I would be a professional tennis player when I started. It was just a hobby in a way.
I used to go for an hour, two hours, and then when I was 16 I got into the ITF team that sponsored me for two years, and that changed all my life. I got to No. 7 in juniors, and then my father started taking a lot of interest and my coach, also. They're like, You should give it a shot.
I want you to go to state and to quallies and to get a scholarship and stuff, but I'm glad I made that decision to become a professional player.

Q. Do you feel you've done Pakistan proud to get this far?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: I hope I made them proud. It's a big step in my career, also. It has opened a lot of doors. I have a lot of self-belief that I can do well and be with the big boys in the top 100.
In January I started writing every day that I want to qualify for Wimbledon, and I'm very happy that I've been able to do that this year and win a round, and my next goal is to get in the top 100 this year. I believe I can do this.

Q. You write a diary?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: I just started this year, and it's working.

Q. You wrote, "I want to qualify for Wimbledon"?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Every day.

Q. Literally writing?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: I can show you, yeah.

Q. Is it a personal diary?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Just a book. I was just writing every day. I actually got it from -- Billie Jean King told Martina Navratilova the year she won her last Wimbledon. Martina used to write it every day that she was going to win Wimbledon. Mine was I was going to qualify for Wimbledon, so it's a little bit different.

Q. So you knew about that story and that's why -- how did you hear about that?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: I think in Billie Jean's book or Martina Navratilova's book.

Q. Billie Jean did that?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: The year she won Wimbledon, I think.

Q. Can you write that affirmation for that long?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: From January until now, this year.

Q. What will you be writing now?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Sorry? I'll have to think about it. Probably to get in the top 100, I guess.

Q. Was the match televised in Pakistan?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: No, I don't think so, but I think a lot of people watched it on the Wimbledon site on the computer. I was pretty bummed. I was supposed to play on Court 1 yesterday and it rained. That would have been unbelievable.
A lot of people were excited, and I think that's what I needed, also, because back home they showed Court 1 and Centre Court, and that would have been great. But I guess -- yeah.

Q. What does your father do for a living?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: He's a businessman, got his own business.

Q. You play a throwback style, coming in, first and second serves.
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Yeah, on grass, I grew up on grass. I grew up watching Edberg and Becker, and grass is definitely my favorite surface, especially against Safin. His strengths are his baselines, so I was not really comfortable that I was going to win a lot of points from the back. I had to put pressure on with serving well.

Q. So on hard court you don't serve and volley at all?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: I do, but I've changed a lot of things in my tennis this year, using a lot of slice and mixing it up, and so far it's working, so good.

Q. Do you know there was a guy 30 or 31 years ago from Pakistan. Do you know him?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Rahim, no, I've just heard of him. I've never met him.

Q. Is he very well-known there?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: No, because he disappeared. Even his family doesn't know where he went. I don't know. I've just heard of the guy. I've never met him.

Q. Do people still recognize his name?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Only like in the tennis circle. Like if you ask the normal person, then no.

Q. But do you think a normal person will now know your name?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: I hope so (smiling).

Q. What were people shouting from the rooftop?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Shabash (phonetic) is like, come on, come on, like, well done, keep going.

Q. What language is that?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Urdu.

Q. Do you live and train in Pakistan?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: When I grew up, yeah, then I was traveling for two years with ITF team so I was training a lot with them. Three years I was based in London. I had a British coach until I was 21, and then I moved to Holland for two years. The last four years I've been with a coach from the States.

Q. Are you based in the States?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: No, no, he lives in Thailand, Bangkok.

Q. Robert Davis?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Robert Davis, yeah.

Q. Who is he? What's his background?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: I don't know. He's a coach that came from Clemson. I just met him through an agent, and he was national coach for Thailand also, before, Davis Cup captain there, and he's the national coach for them, also. But for two months we're both having a break from each other.

Q. Where is home now?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Pakistan.

Q. You don't have a base anywhere else?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Mostly in Europe when I come to travel. I've got a lot of relatives here. My brother is studying here, also, in the UK, so when I'm playing in Europe if I lose then I'll always come back to the UK and practice with all the players from the British tennis, like LTA helps me to practice with them.
Before it was at Queen's, and now I think it's going to be at Roehampton. So they're really good friends of mine and I can play with them all the time.

Q. What's the setup for aspiring young players in Pakistan?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: There is no setup. They say they're working on it. They're trying to build a new tennis center, the only one we have in Pakistan, which is a shame. By the time it's going to be complete probably I'm going to retire (laughter).
But they're saying they're going to start working on it. So I hope after this kind of reserves and stuff, they're going to get serious about it.

Q. So at the moment good young Pakistani players face a struggle?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Yeah, financially. I've been really lucky and fortunate that my parents could support me. Back home there are a lot of players that want to play but they're just waiting for the sponsors because they can't afford it. So it's a pity.
I have to do my job on the tennis court so maybe the government think there's another sport besides cricket. Hopefully this week I've done good for some other people, also.

Q. Is that a Wimbledon shirt?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Yes. They had some problem with my other shirt. They said there's too much blue or something. I said, I don't have any other whites, so if you want me to play in the Wimbledon, just give me, and they just gave it to me.

Q. Free shirt, yeah?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Yeah (laughing).

Q. Was playing Safin the way you thought it was going to be? You had probably envisioned in your mind what it was going to be like to play him. Was it similar to what you thought?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: For one thing, I was just visualizing playing on Court 1. I went to Court 1 and watched a match yesterday just to have a feel of it. I was more excited about playing on Court 1 other than playing Safin. Also being Pakistani and playing a world class player, US Open champion, Australian Open champion, is a big deal.
A lot of people back home were very excited, especially my family and friends. I think it was a good feeling. I handled the pressure pretty well. I thought I would be nervous against him. I started off pretty well. There were some shots, I thought, they're not going to come back, but they came back. I think that's the difference between the top 20, 30 players and the rest of the 100 players, you know?
So I think against somebody else like 50 or 60 those shots would have been really good, but against Safin I had to keep on doing them again and again and again. That makes him 20 in the world. I just learn from it.

Q. I know you're very proud of the humanitarian award you won, and that was one of the first things many of us heard about you was for that run in the doubles. Was there any lingering negative effect for you in your country from that?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Actually the thing is, the same this year, when I went back home after US Open, I had the whole plan of playing in Europe in the summer and then in the States, and same this year, also. I have to go to States and I'm going to go back home after US Open.
So by the time I went back home after US Open everything was quiet and nobody talked about it, and I got the humanitarian award, got the wild card for the US Open double, so I was getting so much respect and recognition everywhere.
But playing with Haddad in 2002, I never thought it was going to become such a big deal. There were some extremists back home and some sports authorities started talking negative. I still stand with the point that I really believe you shouldn't mix politics, religion, or color into sports.
If I take a stand against a Jewish player, next thing I know all the Christians or Jews or Indians take a stand against me and then I can't play the sport. If I feel like I can do well with an Indian or a Jew again, I would definitely play with them.

Q. Do you keep in touch?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: Yeah, I just met all the Israeli players here, and Haddad has been injured for a while. He had a baby and he's playing a lot of team tennis in the States. I haven't seen him for a few years.

Q. Are you playing doubles here?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: I'm not, no.

Q. Your family and friends were taking a lot of pictures and before the match you were smiling. Was there any moment where you thought, wow, I'm here?
AISAM-UL-HAG QURESHI: I felt good. Tennis has given me a way to make my parents proud of me, and that's a really big thing for me. It's really good and nice when your parents are proud of you. That's why it feels good.

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