'Thought it was a big thing to do': Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi recalls beating Roger Federer in doubles at Swiss Indoors in 2009

Pakistan’s top tennis player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi recently recalled his memories of playing the legendary Roger Federer, during a recent interaction with Dan Kernan in the podcast ‘Control the Controllables’.

According to a report by Sportskeeda, the tennis player recalled meeting Federer and also rued how it still failed to propel his career in his home country.

The report cited him as saying, “In 2007, I qualified for the main draw of Wimbledon men’s singles, where I won the first round. I was the first player from Pakistan in 50 years to have qualified for a Grand Slam. In 2009, I ended up beating Roger Federer in doubles in Basel. And I thought, this was a big thing to do in tennis and I would be recognized back home. But that wasn’t the case.”

Qureshi had partnered with Jamie Cerretani and defeated Roger Federer and Marcho Chiudinelli in straight sets at the Swiss Indoors.

Qureshi spoke on being a role model in Pakistan, according to a report in _TennisWorldUS_A. “When I made USO 2010 finals, I was finally recognized not only in the world of tennis, but Pakistan as well!” Qureshi said. “People know the likes of Imran Khan, Waqar Younis and Jahangir Khan. I wanted my name to come with them when people talked about tennis.”

He went on to add that he has a responsibility to be a role model in his country and to be a door opener. He added that he wants to motivate youngsters in Pakistan to make a career out of tennis.