Aqeel Khan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Country |  Pakistan |
|
| Residence | Karachi, Pakistan | |
| Date of birth | January 30, 1980 | |
| Place of birth | Karachi, Pakistan | |
| Height | N/A | |
| Weight | N/A | |
| Turned pro | 1998 | |
| Plays | Right | |
| Career prize money | $11,147 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 8-22 | |
| Career titles: | 0 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 349 (October 4, 2004) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | - | |
| French Open | - | |
| Wimbledon | - | |
| US Open | - | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 11-7 | |
| Career titles: | 0 | |
| Highest ranking: | No. 613 (August 29, 2005) | |
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s Tennis | |||
| Islamic Solidarity Games | |||
| Bronze | 2005 Mecca | Singles | |
| Gold | 2005 Mecca | Doubles | |
| Gold | 2005 Mecca | Team | |
Aqeel Khan (born January 30, 1980, in Karachi) is the current Pakistani number two at Tennis and National Champion. His favourite surface is Clay.
His career highlights include helping the Pakistan Davis Cup team defeat favourites, New Zealand, in the Davis Cup, by beating Simon Rea, 7–6(5) 2–6 3–6 6–3 6–2 in the fifth rubber; and reaching the Davis Cup World Group play-offs against Chile in Santiago.
Aqeel Khan began playing Tennis at the age of 9, whilst attending school in Karachi to avoid doing duties as a ball-boy. He began playing Junior Tennis in 1993 at the Pakistan International Junior Championships.
He turned pro in 1998 and played his first Davis Cup match in Islamabad, Pakistan, beating Sanjeev Tikaram of Pacific Oceania, 6–1 6–3.
In 2002, at the Asian Games, he reached the second round in the singles, doubles and team events. In 2004, he made it to the final of the ITF India 1 Satellite Masters tornament in Gurgaon. He then went on to win two of the three legs of the ITF Satellite Championship in Pakistan, and finished off by winning the Pakistan Satellite Masters in Karachi. He won a singles Futures tournament in Hyderabad, India, and also won the Indian DSCL National tennis championship in New Delhi. Aqeel also won a doubles Satellite title in Pakistan.
In 2005 he won a Satellite title in India and twice made it into the finals. Aqeel Khan also got to two doubles Futures Finals in Iran. He won Bronze in the Tennis singles event at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Mecca, Saudi Arabia 2005, where he also won Gold with Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi in the doubles, and Gold in team event.
He also won a Satellite in India in 2006. In the doubles, he also won the India 2 Masters satellite in Delhi. In the first Indo-Pak tennis series, he and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi were beaten in the 5 rubber tournament 3–2. At the 2006 Asian Games, he reached the second round in singles, and paired with Qureshi, he reached the quarter-finals, losing to eventual winners and first seeds Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi 6–2 6–4.
In 2007, Aqeel Khan won a futures tournament in Ludhiana, India. He represented Pakistan at the Asian tennis championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, seeded sixth, but lost in the second round. In the doubles he partnered Indian Aditya Madkekar, but was knocked out at the quarter-finals. He then went on to win his second futures title of the year at Lahore, Pakistan.
In 2008 Aqeel Khan was called up the Pakistan Davis Cup squad and prepared for the hectic Asia/Oceania Group III schedule. During the Davis Cup, he was inspired form, as Pakistan won each tie 3-0 to gain promotion back to Asia/Oceania Group II.
Despite the potential to move further up the rankings, opportunites have been limited due to a lack of funds, and not enough ITF tournaments being played in Pakistan.
Aqeel Khan was involved in the longest-known Davis Cup tiebreak to date when losing to Korea's Young-Jun Kim in the 2003 Asia/Oceania Group I Relegation play-off 7–6 4–6 6–3 7–6, with the first set tiebreak lasting 36 points. He also holds the record for playing the most ties for Pakistan in the Davis Cup, and has the best doubles partnership, with Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, for Pakistan.
His younger brother is Jalil Khan, the Pakistan number 3 and Davis Cupper. He also has another youth tennis playing brother called Yasir.
[edit] Singles titles
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (0) |
| ATP Tour (0) |
| Challengers (0) |
| Futures & Satellites (7) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | August 15, 2004 | Islamabad |
Clay |  Toshiaki Sakai |
7–6(3) 7–6(5) |
| 2. | August 22, 2004 | Lahore |
Grass | Toshiaki Sakai |
1–6 6–4 6–3 |
| 3. | September 5, 2004 | Karachi |
Hard |  Tommaso Sanna |
6–3 6–4 |
| 4. | September 12, 2004 |  Hyderabad |
Hard |  Tai-Wei Liu |
6–7(5) 6–1 6–1 |
| 5. | August 20, 2006 | Delhi |
Hard | Ravishankar Pathanjali |
7–6(7) 6–4 |
| 6. | August 12, 2007 | Ludhiana |
Hard | Aditya Madkekar |
6–3 7–6(5) |
| 7. | October 29, 2007 | Lahore |
Grass | Divij Sharan |
4–6 6–3 6–4 |
[edit] Doubles titles
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (0) |
| ATP Tour (0) |
| Challengers (0) |
| Futures & Satellites (2) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score |
| 1. | September 5, 2004 | Karachi |
Hard | Vijay Kannan |
Jaco Mathew & Atsufumi Yoshikawa |
7–6(5) 6–4 |
| 2. | September 3, 2006 | Delhi |
Hard | Vishal Punna |
Divij Sharan & Naveep Singh |
6–3 6–4 |
