Pakistan tennis ace Aisam-ul-Haq-Qureshi’s Australian Open campaign came to an end on Tuesday after a second round loss to the Indo-Croatian pair of Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig in the mixed doubles event.
Aisam, paired with Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova, failed to progress to thequarter-finals after losing 7-5, 6-2 in the match that ended in an hour and eight minutes.
The Indo-Croatian pair clinched the first set despite strong resistance from the Pak-Kazakh duo.
Aisam and Shvedova were broken twice in the first set, conceding five break point chances, while the Sania-Dodig pair was broken once.
The Indo-Croatian domination gained steam in the second set, breaking Aisam-Shvedova twice as they claimed the set in only 20 minutes.
Sania-Dodig hit fewer winners (23 to 27) but committed lesser unforced errors (16 to 20).
Aisam, 35, suffered the worst possible start to the 2016 season, crashing out in the first round of the Australian Open men’s doubles event on Thursday.
