http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\13\story_13-6-2007_pg2_7
HALLE (Germany): Seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet became the biggest first-round casualty at the ATP tournament in Halle on Tuesday when he was shocked by Pakistani qualifier Aisamul Haq Qureshi.
The 27-year-old from Lahore shocked sixth-seed Gasquet in straight sets, knocking out the 20-year-old who is ranked 11th in the world, 293 places higher than Qureshi. Qureshi was delighted to take out a seeded player in straight sets and after winning the first set on a tie-breaker, he put in a commanding display to take the second 6-4 as the Frenchman struggled to modify his game on grass. “It’s not about winning my first-round match, it’s about beating a player ranked just outside the top 10,” said Qureshi, who had the advantage of three qualify games over the weekend to get used to playing on grass.
“The hard work for the last 12 years is paying off, I learned a lot last year from some of the mistakes I made and I just kept telling myself I could do it. I went out with the clear plan of moving him around and it paid off. I had tie-breakers in both sets of my last two qualifying games over the weekend, so when it got to 6-6 in the first-set tie-breaker, I knew I had a good chance. Having normally played at Queen’s and in Nottingham, I only decided to switch to Halle last year and the move has paid off in only my second appearance. I really enjoyed it last year, but I went out in the first round, but I am hoping to stay a lot longer this year.”
Qureshi will play the winner of Tuesday’s match between German number one Philipp Kohlschreiber and Dutch qualifier Raemon Sluiter. His beaten opponent, Gasquet, looked stunned by the defeat, but said his Pakistani opponent deserved the win. “I don’t really know what went wrong,” said the French number one. “He seemed much happier on grass having played the qualifiers at the weekend, he really played well and served well. I got just one break-point, while he got several. I don’t feel like I played badly, but I am very disappointed to go out of the first round, of course.”
In the day’s other early games, Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, ranked 53rd in the world, eased into the second round with a 6-3, 7-6 (11/9) win over South African qualifier Wesley Moodie. Santoro has a tough second-round assignment, against fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych from the Czech Republic. German qualifier Simon Stadler beat wild-card compatriot Mischa Zverev in straight-sets 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) and will face seventh-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the second round.
This is a GREAT win by Aisam, he has done a lot for Pakistan tennis and i think he deserves a lot more media coverage, madia should give him a legend like status to inspire youngsters to play this sport. He has beaten some other good players as well (including Thai player Srichapan or whatever his name was) but this one is probably biggest win of his career.