KARACHI: Pakistan top gun Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his American partner Rajeev Ram defeated India’s Leander Paes and Australia’s Sam Groth to reach the doubles final of the ATP Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, United States on Friday. Aisam and Rajeev were outplayed in the opening set of the match, losing 6-4 before bouncing back with a 7-6 triumph in the second to level the tie. The third set was just as tight as the two duos traded blows with neither ready to relent until Aisam and partner finally got the elusive break, wrapping up the set 11-9 and the match two sets to one. Earlier, 37-year-old Aisam and Rajeev had defeated Mexico’s Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela and Spain’s Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 6-1, 6-2 in the quarter-finals. Aisam has bagged four titles this year already, including last month’s Antalya Open with Robert Lindstedt, and is gunning for a fifth one in the ongoing tournament. Published in Daily Times, July 23rd , 2017.