Game, set and match!

Pakistan’s Davis Cup victory against Chinese Taipei was significant in a number of ways. For the first time in 15 years, our veterans Aqeel Khan and Aisam Qureshi had the luxury of two players who could contribute to the team effort. In the dark days of the Dilawar Abbas administration, whatever talent there was, had been squeezed out of the game.

Abbas had been satisfied just to have the PTF Complex named after him, unjustly, it may be added. His administration was a group of yes men who were more loyal than the king and had one thing in common: their knowledge of the sport was even less than the President’s.

After a brief interregnum Kaleem Imam had a go. This was also a futile effort although his son got the majority of the PTF’s fund raising monies.

The Aisam-Aqeel doubles partnership was solid as ever

Saleem Saifullah is a breath of fresh air. A good player in his own right, there is no questioning his commitment to the development of tennis in Pakistan. Through his efforts, the Taiwan tie was held in Turkey and our players also given wild cards in Futures events held after the tie.

The tie itself was hard fought. Pakistan relied on the seasoned veterans and although there was a bit of a stumble early on the third day, with Aqeel losing a match he should have won, it was up to the playing captain Aisam  to save the day with a four set win in the fifth match. The Aisam-Aqeel doubles partnership was solid as ever. They have hardly lost any matches in their Davis Cup career and on Saturday, they were again rock solid.

A lot will depend on how the new boys Samir and Abid develop

Pakistan had beaten Indonesia earlier, despite Aisam’s absence, with the younger players Samir and Abid providing excellent support to Aqeel. But Group 1 is a different ball game all together. The players are world class. They are bigger, faster and hit the ball harder and more consistently than the ones we faced in Group 2. In order to compete with any hope of success, our players must be exposed to that level of play. The ideal place for this would be Turkey where Mr.Saifullah’s contacts have paid dividends. Turkey has a Futures event every week of the year and with some assistance from the Turkish federation, it would be an ideal base for our players to train and compete. The prognosis for our Davis Cup team is healthy.

But the future of our junior tennis is a cause for concern. The President has rightly stated that our youngsters coming through are not up to the mark as far as future potential is concerned. He even brought some boys of Pakistani descent from Canada and England and though they competed hard, they were not up to Davis Cup standard. What the Pakistan Tennis Federation must do is to develop a center of excellence where the junior players can and train, compete and develop their physical strength.

Every country has centers of excellence. In Spain it is Barcelona, in the USA, the Bolletieri, Macci and Hopman Academies. Such is the case in other countries worldwide. The PTF has an excellent facility in the form of the PTF Complex. This was the brain child of Waseem Sajjad and Munir Pirzada many years ago. The PTF needs to improve the quality of the courts, arrange basic accommodation and provide balls and strings. Let them play. All they need to know is that once they are at their tennis home, they will be well looked after. The players will emerge by themselves.

Another aspect that the PTF has to emphasize is that all players should have an equal chance, a level playing field. The dark days of Dilawar Abbas and Rasheed Khan should never be allowed to return. These people strangled the sport by victimizing children for their own vengeful motives. That does not seem to be in evidence now but the people who executed these deeds are still hanging on to the sport. They are in key positions and have conflicts of interest. If they are not neutralized, they could fatally damage any good intentions.

To the credit of our team, they have gotten into Group 1 without having the luxury of playing on their own courts. Pakistan, playing on the grass courts of Lahore would be a handful for any of the teams mentioned. But sadly, ever since the unfortunate attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team, we have been deprived of home court advantage. The PTF should leave no stone unturned in order to get international tennis back to Pakistan.

In the 2016 Davis Cup Group 1 draw, India is the top seed while Uzbekistan is the second seed. The draw for the next year will be held in Santiago Chile this week. India has Devarman the former NCAA champion and Yuki Bhambri in the singles and Bopanna and Paes in the doubles, a formidable Challenge, should Pakistan draw them. Uzbekistan draws from Russia’s pool of world class players and is always competitive. They have Dennis Istomin and Farrukh Dustov who are both world class with Istomin ranked in the 60s on the ATP computer. Other teams are China, Korea and New Zealand, all quality opponents. Group 1 therefore, might be a bridge too far for our boys, but they have to win one tie in order to stay in the Group. A lot will depend on how the new boys Samir and Abid develop. They have been hardened by American college tennis, but will be hard pressed to compete at Group 1 level. But, regardless, the next year promises some exciting times for our tennis fans.