Twenty-nine year old Lahore-born Aisamul Haq grew up swimming, playing cricket and football, but at the age of 14 he developed a crush on tennis when his mother and first coach, Nausheen Ihtisham, took him to a tennis club. His mother is a former ten-time national champion who represented Pakistan in the Fed Cup and his maternal grandfather, Khawaja Iftikhar, was the All-India champion before Partition — hence the love for tennis is in Aisam's blood.
During his junior tennis days, ITF (International Tennis Federation) sponsored him for two years and he finished seventh, making him the highest ranked Pakistani ever! He is the number one Pakistani tennis player and is the former Asian number three. His greatest ever achievement was to reach Wimbledon's third round and the second round at the US open with partner Amir Hadad in 2002.
I was surprised to learn that he shines not only in tennis but also as a human being because he has also won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year award for playing with an Israeli partner despite pressures from his community (Amir Hadad also won the same award).
As a junior, Aisam was coached by LTA (The Lawn Tennis Association). As a pro he was coached by American Robert Davis — an International Sports Writer and former Davis Cup and National Coach for Peru, Panama and Thailand. Aisam is currently coached by Brazilian, Rodrigo Nascimento.
