Aisam wins thriller to clinch Hall of Fame Doubles Championship

KARACHI: Continuing his superb form this year, Pakistan's tennis star Aisam ul Haq has added yet another feather to his cap by winning the doubles title of the ATP Hall of Fame Tennis Championship, held in Newport.

The top seeded pair of Aisam and Rajeev Ram – his partner from the US – defeated the Austrian duo of Matt Reid and John Smith in a thrilling final that lasted 75 minutes.

The Pak-US duo won the first set without much resistance, dropping only four frames, but lost the second frame 4-6. In the super tie breaker, Aisam and Ram were better than their opponents, securing a 10-7 victory.

With this win – 6-4, 4-6, and 10-7, Aisam has bagged his fifth ATP title of the year apart from four ATP World Tour ones, all with different partners, and one ATP challenger at Surbiton, UK.

Aisam emerged the victor in ATP World Tour titles at Auckland (with Marcin Matkowski), Barcelona (with Florin Mergea), and Antalya (with Robert Lindstedt). The win at Newport completes 15 ATP world tour double titles for the Pakistani player.

This was also his first title with Ram and Aisam was happy to be paired with him, saying that he looks forward to winning more tournaments with him.

"It's been a pleasure to play with Rajeev. It's been a great week. I love Newport and I love coming back here. He's won so many titles on grass so it was a perfect combination," he said.

Talking about future, Aisam said, "Hopefully, we can play in the future again. Winning a tournament when playing together for the first time is a great feeling."