“My father (Aisam's grandfather) had told my mother (Aisam's grandmother) about his wish to name his first grandson 'Aisam'. Though he was no longer around when my first child, the much-awaited grandson, was born, my mother named him Aisam after my father's wish,” his father shares.

The game of tennis runs in Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi's blood, so to say, for he is the third generation of tennis players from his mother's side. Aisam's mother, Nausheen Iftikhar-Ehtasham, was Pakistan's number one tennis player for 10 years and before that her father, Aisam's maternal grandfather Khawaja Iftikhar, was the All-India champion before independence.

No wonder this lad won laurels for this country through tennis. Despite winning so many competitions, the usually cool and confident Aisam couldn't hold back his emotions when honoured by the Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, a day after his return to Lahore after finishing the runners-up in two doubles finals (mixed and men's) at the US Open earlier this month.

“It has always been my wish to make my parents and family proud of me,” says Pakistan's king of tennis. “And at the Governor House that day, I turned around to find tears of joy mixed with pride in my grandmother's [nanni] eyes. Seeing her like that, my mother too started crying, and I don't know what came over me then,” he says, still a little emotional while recalling the incident.

Aisam never realised he had inherited the talent from his maternal side until much later. “I only started playing at the age of 13-and-a-half. I was a student of Crescent Model High School then, and like any other high school student my age, I hoped to go abroad for further studies,” he informs.

“My aim in taking up tennis at the time was not really winning competitions but to just have a respectable list of extracurricular activities on my resume and college admission form by the time I applied for scholarship to universities abroad,” he explains.

“Being a Jack of all trades, I enjoyed swimming, football and cricket too, but in tennis I surprised myself when I started winning competitions. Taking my initial steps at the Model Town Academy in Lahore, with Haseeb Aslam as my first coach, the first big international competition that I won was the ITF Junior event held in Iran in 1997. I won both the singles and doubles events there. My friend Nasir Shirazi was my partner back then. The same year, I also ran into my current doubles partner, Rohan Bopanna, in the ITF Junior tour in India. Being the same age, both of us had started around the same time and have experienced success together,” he adds.

Going back to his turning professional, Aisam says, “My world ranking reached number seven while I was also number one in Asia at the Junior Under-18 level. I was even offered what I had initially set out to do, that is get into a university on a sport scholarship. But by then my outlook had changed as my father pointed out to me that I had a good thing going in tennis. So when choosing between a sport career and college, I chose the former. And my father also promised to do all he could to support me in my endeavours. And I haven't regretted my decision.”

However, Aisam didn't ignore his education altogether, having done his Bachelor's, he hopes to complete his Master's too in the near future. About his school days, he says that he was an above-average student throughout.

“I was very good at math and physics. Numbers came naturally to me and I was good at remembering formulas too” he says.

Numbers still come naturally to him while judging his opponents' responses to his serves on the court as he wins games and sets during the matches. But his passion, tennis, keeps him constantly on the go and he dearly misses his family.

“I am playing all year round and am literally living out of a suitcase. All in all, I get to spend around two months in a year at home... but the distance is just one of the sacrifices that one makes while chasing after your goals.”

Aisam, currently ranked Number Six with partner Rohan Bopanna of India, has also come under some criticism for his choice of partners. For before Rohan, it was Amir Hadad, who hailed from Israel.

Aisam reasons, “First of all, sport should be above politics and diplomacy. Moreover, there are hardly any other Pakistanis or Muslims playing tennis at my level and ranking, so I don't really have a choice when it comes to taking on partners. Plus I'm a peace-loving citizen of the world and see everyone else that way too.”

When asked if any of his siblings played tennis, he laughs and says that his sister, Shiza Hasan,
who is one year younger and a brother, Zain, seven years his junior, are both happy in their own lives.

“They are both successful individuals busy in their own lives and I would hate to see them go through the difficulties I went though. Shiza, besides being a successful dress designer, is happily married with two children. And Zain, a graduate from Imperial College, London, helps our father run the family business. I am very proud of both of them,” he says.

Saying that he shares something very funny about his childhood, “I used to take my sister's milk bottle and drink the milk when no one was looking!” Laughing at his own disclosure, he justifies it by saying, “See, insisting that I was a big boy, my mother used to make me drink milk from a glass. But there was Shiza, who was just a year younger and was being allowed the luxury of drinking from a bottle! So I would help myself to it when no one was looking!”

About his relationship with his parents, Aisam says, “We are very good buddies. But in this friendship there are also some boundaries and lines that I will never cross as they are the two people I respect most in this world.”

Being such a successful tennis player must come with a price. Aisam elaborates, “Yes, one needs to work very hard in order to see success in anything, and I am not just talking about tennis here. I have already mentioned how my travelling all year to feature in events keeps me away from my family. Then one also needs to practise for five to six hours everyday in order to keep fit. The element of injury is also there. One tends to get regular ankle and shoulder injuries and pulled muscles.”

But although he says that tennis has brought many positive changes to his life such as giving him patience, confidence, discipline, Aisam regrets that he can never follow a proper diet plan. “I have a sweet tooth and love to indulge in high-calorie Pakistani food. I also like pasta, sushi and Chinese food but I hate vegetables,” he informs.

When asked if tennis was an expensive love, Aisam answers in the affirmative. “Yes, it can be very expensive if you don't have sponsorship to pay for your travel, stay, equipment, coaches, physiotherapists, club fee, etc.”

Not being a product of the system here, Aisam knows best about these things. “I was lucky that my parents supported me and stepped in to take care of my expenses, but not everyone is so fortunate,” he says.

About his plans for the future, Aisam says that he intends to continue playing for another five to six years. “I'm glad that my good run at the US Open and the Wimbledon before that has taken the limelight away from cricket to show to the government here that there are other sporting talents too that are just waiting to be nurtured if provided with proper coaching and facilities. I also want to start a tennis academy someday and be there to make sure our youngsters don't repeat the mistakes I made during my career,” he says.

His message for anyone who wants to play tennis is “Just know there are no shortcuts in life. Hard work is what takes you places. So don't ever take anything for granted and believe in Allah and stay humble at all times, even if you find suc cess.”

Finally, when asked if he was superstitious like some of the other big players that one gets to read about of and on, Aisam says, “No, not really. I recite the Ayat-ul-Kursi, Al-Hamd Shareef and the four Quls when I am a little low on confidence. Everything seems to clear up for me after that.”

Though Aisam couldn't win the US Doubles finals, he gave the nation plenty of reasons to smile. And when he addressed the crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows, New York, at the end of the Men's Doubles final, he most definitely won hearts, if not the titles. Pakistan is proud of its hero!