Meheq Khokhar has been playing tennis since she was quite young. “I started playing when I was eight or nine years old and I was selected to represent Pakistan internationally when I was 12,” she tells Eos with great pride. Meheq turned 30 this year.

When she started out, she was the youngest to represent Pakistan internationally. The tournament that she was playing in at age 12 was the 14-and-under Asia Tennis Federation tournament held in Myanmar. 

And that was the turning point, the moment, which made her want to seriously pursue tennis. “I had started playing for fun initially, and then playing against others from different countries, different cultures and religions made me feel proud about my own identity,” she says.

“Wearing the national colours and competing against the best athletes from around the world is truly indescribable. There’s no other feeling like it. You also make lifelong friendships with people from around the world who share the same passion and goals as you, which is amazing on its own. Our passion and goals align us and make us come together.”

Scotland-born Pakistani tennis player and sports presenter Meheq Khokhar is part of the Pakistan tennis team currently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to play in the prestigious Billie Jean King Cup tournament. Eos was able to meet up with her before she left

Tennis has helped Meheq travel a lot. “I have travelled to a majority of countries in Asia and countries in Europe as well since I was 12 and it is only because of tennis. I have even been to and lived in the US, where I was on a tennis scholarship,” she says.

“I can say that I have grown up with tennis. It has also matured me, as when I used to come back to school after playing in a big tournament, there was no one in my school who had [gone through] the same journey as me. They would go to school and come back. But for me it was different, as from such a young age I was getting so much exposure. I loved it,” she says. 

Meheq was born in Glasgow and still goes back and forth to her place of birth despite her family having moved to Islamabad. She explains: “My mom was born and brought up in Glasgow. Her entire family was there. All my siblings were also born there. My dad was in the Pakistan Army. I grew up around sports in Scotland but it was my dad actually who got me into tennis.

“When we came back here, we had a really big garden in our house in Islamabad, where my four siblings and I used to play different sports, from football to cricket to badminton to basketball to everything else. We are a very sporty family. My brother Kashif also used to play tennis, but then he got more involved in football.

“My sister Mehreen used to play football as well, but they only played for fun. In Glasgow, one of my elder sisters played field hockey and I used to play basketball with one of my cousins. We used to go to the park there and play basketball.

“Here I tried my hand at tennis on my dad’s suggestion. I started playing at a club with other players who happened to be in the Davis Cup team. Later, they took up coaching, professionally, and that’s how I also started getting proper coaching from them.

“There was a girl I used to play tennis with, I still do. In fact she, Sarah Mahboob, is also a part of our Pakistan team competing in the Billie Jean King Cup tennis tournament right now. Well, her dad was a coach. He was a US Professional Tennis Registry certified coach. He had a lot of knowledge and was good with technique. Tennis is a very technical sport,” she points out.

Meheq was lucky to have received her coaching from other coaches, too, here. All had experience because they had also played at the international level, having played internationally for years in the Davis Cup. “So they had that playing experience and Mahboob Sahab had that coaching experience. It wasn’t a bad combination to be honest,” she says.

“We do have qualified coaches in Pakistan but the problem is that we don’t have the money and facilities. Every issue here grows from our financial issues,” Meheq says.

Asked if they have to pay from their own pockets to compete in international events, Meheq says that it is not the case. “Spending from our own pocket to compete abroad has not happened as yet, thank God. The International Tennis Federation pays 90 percent of our airline tickets and the Pakistan Tennis Federation takes care of the rest, such as 10 percent of the ticket fare, our stay and daily allowances,” she says.

Alongside her tennis, Meheq has also carved out a role as a television sports presenter. “I have studied broadcast journalism at Hofstra University [in the US],” she explains, when she went there on a tennis scholarship. “It was something that I wanted to do. I have also worked as a news anchor with Pakistan Television for a while, but I realised that news was not for me and sports was my only interest.

“PTV Sports offered me my own sports show. I did that for a while until Covid happened and I moved to California for four or five months, where I was also coaching tennis. PTV let me shoot from there. I used to shoot sports stories from different locations and send the stuff I had shot, which was then played on PTV Sports,” she says.

“Eventually, when I returned, PTV reached out to me for cricket. They wanted me to be the presenter for the Pakistan women’s series against Ireland. It was a great experience. Then I did another cricket show on YouTube with senior cricketers. This past April, I was one of the PTV presenters for the Pakistan series against New Zealand with Zainab Abbas. It was followed by an offer from Suno TV in Lahore. Basically, in Lahore, there are only two channels with regular sports shows — Suno TV and Public TV. I accepted and moved to Lahore for the job,” she says.

So work and play is going on for Meheq side-by-side. She wants to carry on representing Pakistan and making a mark for herself internationally. Though she is 30, there is plenty of tennis left in her, she feels. Like the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who she is a big fan of, she too is a fighter.

“When you are playing a tennis match, you should fight even if you are losing,” she says. “For me it’s all about fighting, because it teaches you to face challenges off the court also.

“I may be losing. I may be dying playing in the boiling heat, but I will always choose mind over matter. And actually it is this ability of mine to fight no matter what, that has helped me win matches,” she says.

This will be the third time for Meheq to represent her country in the Billie Jean King Cup, known formerly as the Federation Cup, being played in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia from July 24-30. “It is a prestigious event in which Pakistan has done quite well. Our team ended up fourth in the previous event held in Tajikistan, although very few people here know about it,” she sighs.

As a sports presenter, perhaps Meheq will be able to change that.

The writer is a member of staff.
She tweets @HasanShazia

Published in Dawn, EOS, July 23rd, 2023