With four terrorist attacks in a week, the ongoing flood tragedy, political violence in Karachi, spot-fixing scandals in cricket, and unfettered calls for a military-led French Revolution — someone should really tell Altaf Hussain that the French generals ended the French revolution, they did not start it — you might think Pakistan would be incapable of throwing up good news.
You would be wrong. Step forward Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi. No pressure, kid. You’ve only got the weight of a country on your shoulders.
By now, I’m sure you’ve heard that Aisam has made it to the final of the U.S. Open, not just in the men’s doubles with Rohan Bopanna of India, but also the mixed doubles final with Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic. Before this tournament, no Pakistani had even sniffed the finals of the main draw in any Grand Slam, ever. In a period of 24 hours, Aisam has reached two. What a guy.
Now, of course most of the attention will be on the nationality of his doubles partner. It’s a fair enough story (though you really should’ve heard the ESPN people trying to talk about Indo-Pak history; it was very cute in a funny way, or possibly very funny in a cute way). An Indian and Pakistani playing together? It’s a fantastic story. I just hope it doesn’t become the entire story.
Photo: Rod Loud/USOpen.org
You see, the fact of the matter is that both countries have quite pathetic histories when it comes to tennis. Pakistan has basically never produced anyone of international note until Aisam. India has produced some doubles stars, and a couple of players who’ve just about reached the second week of the odd major, but for a country of its size, population and resources, it’s nothing to be proud of. So yes, let’s applaud the whole feel-good factor that the two bring. But let’s also admire that these two are doing really well with no significant tennis pedigree behind them. That’s the main point.
In the final, they’re going to play the Bryan brothers, a scarily dominant doubles team. What’s more, they’re American, and this is the U.S. Open, so the crowd will be very much against them. But you know what? The Bopanna/Qureshi team beat the Bryan brothers the last time they played. So they know what it takes. Their match will start around 12.30pm Eastern (9.30pm PST) on Friday, and if you’re in the New York area, or really anywhere in the Northeast, I strongly encourage you to go. Click here for ticket information.
And honestly, I don’t even care if they win or not. I mean, I obviously care. But I’m satisfied with Aisam just featuring in a final. It’s more than enough for me, and I suspect many, many Pakistanis. We don’t need to trace exactly how our athletes have let us down recently. It’s such a nice feeling to just feel good about one of our own, just for once. And it’s not just his play; the way this guy carries himself and deals with the media is wonderful. The post-match interview him and Bopanna had after their semi-final win was heartwarming — just two desi dudes who’re great friends and cognizant of their place in the world. Lovely to see.
As I said above, I really hope the Indo-Pak-fraaandship angle doesn’t overwhelm everything about their final. In particular, I hope the politicians lay off these guys. No statements in the press, no attempts to piggy-back on their partnership. I would advise and hope that they leave this for the players and fans. They should understant that it’s a feel good moment only until they get involved. There haven’t been many feel-good moments in the relationship between India and Pakistan for a while, and I can’t imagine a quicker way for it to dissipate than the respective foreign offices or some random bureaucrat giving us their two cents. If they want to solve the very real issues that plague the relationship between the two countries, they should do it themselves, and not co-opt the efforts of these two.
