Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi Wins Presidency of Pakistan Tennis Federation

Photo provided by Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi

Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi has been elected as the new president of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF). Qureshi begins immediately and his term is for four years. 

During a professional career so far spanning 25 years, Qureshi has had many special wins on the ATP Tour. Now at age 43, being elected president of the PTF will go down as one of his most cherished victories.

“This is an amazing feeling,” said Qureshi, who reached his career high of No. 8 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings in 2011. “What an honour to be elected. There is so much energy and emotion going through my heart right now. The opportunity to lead the development of tennis in Pakistan is an awesome responsibility.

“Playing doubles on the ATP Tour has taught me many lessons of working together with different partners for a common goal. Those lessons will serve me well in my new role as president.”

It is set to be a busy year for the Lahore native. In addition to his new role as President of the PTF, Qureshi opened the ACE Tennis Academy in 2023 with a focus on developing performance tennis nationwide. Also, Qureshi has a new book set to be launched in April of this year: It Takes Two – How the Game of Doubles Imitates Life. Qureshi’s book focuses on how the lessons learned from doubles can be applied in business, academics, and team sports.

Qureshi, a two-time ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award winner (2002, 2010), believes his time as a professional player travelling the world has given him a unique viewpoint to lead Pakistani tennis.

“Over the years, I have seen so many different examples of how countries have developed tennis,” Qureshi says. “Whether it is Colombia through the commercial sponsorship of players, Belgium with their incredible mini-tennis programs, or Japan with the Shuzo Matsuoka Challenge identifying and developing so many of their top players. Now look at how Italy has become one of the leading tennis nations by having more competitions combined with an abundance of quality coaches.

“My responsibility is to design a plan that is customized to Pakistan’s demographics and logistical challenges and execute the plan to the best of my abilities.”

While Qureshi continues to play a full schedule of ATP events, he understands that in his role as president, he needs to balance ambition with discernment.

“First of all, I need to form a team that is dedicated to growing the game of tennis throughout Pakistan. Secondly, I would like to make the national association more player-friendly in terms of basic needs, like upgraded training facilities, and more local and national competitions for all age groups. Beginning with grassroots mini-tennis all the way through to adult categories.

"Lastly, it would be a personal dream come true of mine to help Pakistan host an ATP Challenger event which has never happened before. If I can accomplish these three objectives during my tenure, then that would be a victory for Pakistan.”