Barbados loss another proof of the fact that Pakistan tennis needs young blood

Pakistan’s prospects of retaining their spot in Davis Cup World Group II look bleak after they were relegated to the play-off stage following a shock defeat against Barbados last Sunday.

Despite having the services of top national tennis stars Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan, Pakistan crashed to a 3-1 defeat against Barbados in the best-of-five tie played at the National Tennis Center in Bridgetown.

Aisam and Aqeel are ageing tennis players (both of them are in their forties) but Pakistan still depend heavily on them in their quest for laurels in a sport which is regarded as a young man’s game.

The question asked by many is that why Pakistan tennis has failed to produce even a single good tennis player in the last 20-25 years?

Ask Rashid Malik, one of the most celebrated Pakistani Davis Cup players of all time, and he will tell you that the country has made minimal investment in its young talent and is now suffering because of that.

“What we are witnessing didn’t happen overnight,” Rashid, a former Pakistan Davis Cup captain, told Nukta. “This is the outcome of doing nothing in the last 25 years,” he added.

Rashid blames both the Pakistani government and the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) for the country’s tennis decline.

“Nothing has been done by government or by PTF. Our players were not coached or sent abroad for international tournaments. They were just playing and practicing in Pakistan. That is why even low-ranked players from other teams are beating our boys.

“Aqeel Khan is still in the finals as there is no competition on the national circuit.

“How many of our players active on the international circuit? Not a single player is playing regularly. I believe they should be playing 15-20 tournaments internationally every year. Our young kids should be actively playing on the ITF Juniors circuit.”

Aqeel Khan (L) and Aisam-ul-Haq (R) take part in a training session in Islamabad.Pakistan Tennis Federation

In Bridgetown, Barbados’ Darian King's impressive performance was instrumental in his side’s victory, securing two singles wins. King eased past Mohammad Shoaib 6-3, 6-0 and also defeated Yousuf Khalil 6-3, 6-0.

Pakistan's only win in the tie came from the experienced Aqeel Khan, who displayed determination to come back from behind and overcome Kaipo Marshall 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

However, the all-important doubles match saw King and Haydn Lewis of Barbados beat Aqeel and Aisam7-6(3), 6-7(1), 6-2, which helped the home side win the tie.

Reasons behind Pakistan’s loss

Aisam was disappointed after Pakistan’s loss against Barbados.

“It is obviously disappointing because we couldn’t execute our plans,” Aisam said in a video on his official Instagram account.

“Conditions were really brutal, very hot and humid,” he added.

Aisam also reiterated that typhoid affected his preparations for the Davis Cup tie.

“I was also suffering from Typhoid just before the start of the tournament which is why I couldn’t play for 6-8 days,” he said.

“The plan was to win the doubles in straight sets because Aqeel was really tired after his singles match but, unfortunately, we lost a very close doubles match.

“Yousuf was playing for the first time and there were some nerves. We wanted to give the youngsters exposure but it will take some time.

“We need to make our team a bit stronger. We don’t need to rely on two players and we need to try and work on having a complete team.”

Pakistan’s aging stars

Over the years, Pakistan have been increasingly reliant on aging veterans in the shape of Aqeel and Aisam. The latter is now also the president of the Pakistan Tennis Federation.

Both Aisam and Aqeel have made Pakistan proud on multiple occasions in the past with their impressive performance in Davis Cup and grand slam tournaments. However, they are now 44 and near the end of their career but the alarming thing is that Pakistan still don’t have a replacement for these players.

This was also evident from the Davis Cup where both of Pakistan’s younger players, Shoaib and Yousuf, were easily overpowered by Barbados’ players and could not offer much resistance during their matches.

Pakistan’s tennis players also get limited exposure when it comes to international tournaments since the Pakistan Tennis Federation is only able to send them to a handful of events due to lack of funds. As long as players don’t get to compete regularly in international, it will be very difficult for them to grow and become better players.

Participating in international events is also costly which makes it difficult for the players to go abroad especially because of the absence of sponsors — who are more interested in backing sports which attract a lot of eyeballs, like cricket, rather than tennis which has limited following in Pakistan.

Some of the Pakistan players have done well in junior tournaments in the recent past but limited resources means that they face significant challenges when transitioning to the senior level.

Accessibility is also a major issue for tennis players in Pakistan since the facilities, coaching, and training programs are scarce, especially outside major cities.

As far as finances is concerned, according to the Pakistan Sports Board, the grants released to the PTF over the last five years was Rs49 million. Coupled with little or no revenue streams for PTF, it becomes difficult to back an expensive sport like tennis.

But the good thing is that Aisam's familiarity with Pakistan's tennis challenges and opportunities could make him an effective PTF president, driving progress through informed choices.