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0030: This will be it for today's final as Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Kveta Peschke go back with a runners-up trophy but after winning the hearts of millions of Pakistanis with their brilliant run in the tournament and great sporting spirit. We, as a nation, can't thank Aisam enough for putting the country on the world tennis map and for putting our flag on the biggest tennis stadium in the world. Kudos, Aisam.
Log in on Friday evening to follow the live coverage of the men's doubles final as Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna take on top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan.
Goodbye.
0029: The winners are announced and Liezel Huber says her family have flown in to watch the match and thanks the USA for allowing that to happen.
Bob Bryan says "Mr Qureshi is a great player and what he and Bopanna are doing for world peace is great."
"On behalf of the Bryan Brothers Foundation we would like to make a donation to the flood victims of Pakistan," says Bryan and Qureshi thanks him (on behalf of all of us, I suppose!).
0024: Qureshi is all smiles as he thanks Kveta Peschke for playing with him and says “by far” when he’s asked about Peschke being the most famous Czech woman in Pakistan.
He congratulates the winners and goes on to say... “I have never addressed in front of so many people before,” says Qureshi as he looks around the huge Arthur Ashe stadium. (Aww).
He thanks everyone and says he will “never forget this moment.” And just as the mic is taken away from him, Qureshi wants to say a few words, “I’ve heard big screens have been set up in Pakistan to watch this match…that’s the first time this has happened for a tennis match so I want to thank all Pakistanis for praying for me and supporting me.”
What a good sportsman, this guy is!
0019: Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Kveta Peschke are presented the runners-up shield. Peschke: I want to thank our coach, who helped us get this far. I would also like to thank my partner Aisam.
0011: The flags are out on the court and this moment alone is worth everything. The Pakistan flag on Arthur Ashe Stadium!
0010: Just as the Pak-Czech duo looked like making a comeback in the match, the top seeds put in a solid performance to bag the title.
0009: Big man Bob Bryan serves well but Qureshi gets a point back in for his team. An ace from Bryan sets up championship point for the top seeds and they bag it with ease. So Bob Bryan and Liezel Huber are the mixed doubles champions of the US Open 2010.
Qureshi-Peschke 4 4 Bryan-Huber 6 6
0004: Qureshi hits a winner from the net to keep the game alive. Bryan to serve for the championship at 5-4 Qureshi-Peschke 4 4 Bryan-Huber 6 5
0002: Peschke serves to keep her team in the final and they go 30-15 up. Qureshi-Peschke 4 3 Bryan-Huber 6 5
0000: The Americans go 5-3 up after a couple of good points from Qureshi-Peschke.
Qureshi-Peschke 4 3 Bryan-Huber 6 5
2355: Qureshi seems to have gotten over the initial nerves and is playing much better now. Better serves and good forehands. Qureshi double faults though to make it 30-30. Bryan lobs it over Peschke to go 40-30 up. The Americans break Qureshi-Peschke. Qureshi-Peschke 4 3 Bryan-Huber 6 4
2352: Exciting point. Lots of shots on the net as all four players get involved. Bryan's strong serves, however, are enough to get his team the game.
Qureshi-Peschke 4 3 Bryan-Huber 6 3
2348: Good serving from Peschke as she sends down an ace to Bryan and the Pak-Czech pair go back up in the set. 3-2.
Qureshi-Peschke 4 3 Bryan-Huber 6 2
2346: Huber serves for the Americans as Qureshi prepares to receive after a quick chat with Peschke. Strong return from Peschke on Huber's second serve and Bryan hits the net. Qureshi finds a good spot on the court to fire send down a winner and get level on 30-all but the top seeds do enough to hold serve. Qureshi-Peschke 4 2 Bryan-Huber 6 2
2341: Finally a second-set lead for Qureshi-Peschke as they go 2-1 up after breaking the Americans.
Qureshi-Peschke 4 2 Bryan-Huber 6 1
2337: Bryan's second serve, an ace, is called a let and Qureshi-Peschke win a point on the following serve. Qureshi hits a good return to Bryan, who calls for a replay with Qureshi-Peschke on break-point. Our Pakistani star and his Czech partner are back with a break of serve. Game on.
Qureshi-Peschke 4 1 Bryan-Huber 6 1
2334: Peschke opens the set with her serve and it hasn't worked well. The unseeded duo go 30-0 down but Qureshi helps the team go back to 30-15 but Peschke hits the net to give Bryan-Huber an early break in the second set.
Qureshi-Peschke 4 0 Bryan-Huber 6 1
2330: Bryan sends down an ace first up and Huber guards the net well. Another ace to bag the set for the American top seeds. Qureshi-Peschke 4 Bryan-Huber 6
2328: Qureshi serves and serves well. They (Qureshi-Peschke) do enough to keep the set alive. Qureshi-Peschke 4 Bryan-Huber 5
2325: Huber serves to Qureshi. It's a lob game as Huber first send one over to Qureshi, who hits the return into the net. The second one, from Peschke is good enough to get them on 30-40 from being 40-0 down but Bryan is too good at the net. Qureshi-Peschke 3 Bryan-Huber 5
2321: Qureshi hits Bryan's feet (nearly) to put his team up on game-point. Peschke's serve is good enough to get them back into the set. Qureshi-Peschke 3 Bryan-Huber 4
2318: Bryan wastes no time to send his team into a 4-2 lead with his service game.
Qureshi-Peschke 2 Bryan-Huber 4
2315: It's Peschke this time, to hit a winner down the middle though Qureshi seems to be hitting the net quite often.. Bryan-Huber break again. Fluctuating fortunes already... Qureshi-Peschke 2 Bryan-Huber 3
2311: Two great winners from Qureshi down the middle of the court after letting Huber score an ace over him. Break point to Qureshi-Peschke and duly taken. Two-all then. Qureshi-Peschke 2 Bryan-Huber 2
2308: Bryan-Huber break Peschke's serve to go 2-1 up after a few unforced errors and failed first serves gave the veterans early advantage. Qureshi-Peschke 1 Bryan-Huber 2
2304: Peschke serving after Bryan-Huber made it 1-1 on Bryan's serve. Qureshi-Peschke 1 Bryan-Huber 1
2201: First points in the bag for Qurshi-Peschke. 1-0 to Qureshi-Peschke
2300: Here we go then. "Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan to serve..."
2255: "I've told Kveta she's a big star now...the most popular Czech girl in Pakistan," said Aisam.
2250: Oh wow. How good does it feel to see our Pakistani star on the big stage! Speaking to the television channel host, Aisam said "this is already huge for me...I want to send some positive news back home"
2248: Tell me you felt a chill in your spine when Aisam's name was read in the draw..
2243: Indeed. Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Kveta Peschke will be emerging on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court any moment now.
2240: Good news. Vania Kingand Yaroslava Shvedova have finally beaten Cara Black and Anastasia Rodionova (6-3, 4-6, 6-4) after two hours and 29 minutes, to enter the women's doubles final, which means....
2215: A penny for Aisam's thoughts at the moment? We can tell you what he said after winning yesterday's men's doubles semifinal with Rohan Bopanna...
“The only motivation I have for these two weeks is to get these titles for the people back home,” Qureshi said. “I’m trying to send some positive news back home with the floods and everything.”2200: Oh boy. The women's semifinal has entered its third set, which means the mixed doubles final is at least 30 minutes away. Let's take a moment to take a quick look at Aisam's career:
Aisam Qureshi won the Pakistan International Junior Championships, the Casablanca Cup in Mexico and the LTA International Junior Championships in Roehampton. In the World Super Junior Championships, he beat Andy Roddick. By 18, he was a Top 20 junior player.Since becoming a pro in 1998, he had won 53 doubles matches and lost 47. However, he has just one career title, which he won with Rohan Bopanna at the South Africa Tennis Open in February this year.
2115: Aisam will be cheered on court-side by several members of his extended family. "Some of Aisam's cousins and his uncle and aunt will be watching the match," Mr Qureshi tells us. The women's semi, meanwhile, stretches on...
2100: We had expected the final to start some time around 2100hrs but thewomen's semifinal is still underway with only one set decided, which went to King-Shvedova (6-3). This delay, however, gave us some time to chat with Aisam's dad Ehtesham-ul-Haq Qureshi. Mr Qureshi said he and his family are going to watch the match at home with close family and friends. "We just request everyone to keep praying for their success and hope he pulls through in the finals."
2045: Meanwhile, the match preceding the mixed doubles final is already underway. Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova are taking on Cara Black and Anastasia Rodionova in the women's doubles semifinals at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. It's currently 3-1 to King-Shvedova in the first set.
2030: One of our readers reckons: “While our best wishes and prayers are naturally with Aisam, let us not forget his partners in our wishes."
We think you're absolutely right, Abrar-ul-Haque (the singer?), so we've got some facts and details on Aisam's doubles partner for today's final: Kveta Peschke.
The Czech Republic player is a right-handed baseline player, who has reached a career-high doubles ranking of three!
Peschke's best shot, the WTA records tell us, is the forehand and her favourite surface is carpet.
2010: Aisam has been playing back-t0-back matches for the last couple of days and we asked his coach if that would have any effect on the player's performance.
“He’ll be fine,” Davis said. “Actually, Aisam is in really good shape at the moment so I’m not worried about his fitness…it’s just a matter of stepping on to the court.”
2000: Alright. So we just spoke with Aisam’s coach Robert Davis but were unfortunately unable to get hold of the man of the moment.
1930: We have been trying to get in touch with Aisam to get some pre-match comments from him but have not been able to speak to him. According to Aisam's father, Mr. Ehtesham-ul-Haq Qureshi, Aisam must be on his way to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York.
Having gone a breakpoint down in the semis, the Pak-Czech pair came back to win the set 7-6(7-5) and also won the second in a tie-break 7-6(7-4) to enter their first grand slam final.
The quarterfinals also saw a super tie-break come into play as they came back from a set down to win the match against Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 3-6 6-2 10-4.
In the pre-quarterfinals, Qureshi and Peschke came back from behind to win (5-7, 6-3, 10-4) over Kazak-Austrian pair of Yaroslava Shvedova and Mark Knowles.
The pair started off with a win over tournament number eight seeds Vania King of US and Horia Tecau of Romania. The match went into a super tie-break after Qureshi and Peschke won the first set 7-6(7-3) but lost the second 4-6. The super tie-break was bagged by Qureshi-Peschke with a 10-5 score.
As Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic prepare to take on tournament top seeds and home favourites Liezel Huber and Bob Bryan, let us take a look at their journey in the tournament.
1830: The boy who started playing tennis to stay away from homework is now hours away from his first grand slam final…
