Karachi: Renowned legend and father of Pakistan’s Tennis Khawaja Saeed Hai passed away at the age of 91 in Karachi on Wednesday afternoon.
Khawaja Saeed Hai was born on March 5, 1930 in Aligarh, India and started his education from there and received his higher education from Aligarh University. He belonged to the family of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
Former Pakistan number one Khawaja Saeed Hai was the first Pakistani tennis star to reach the main draw after winning the Grand Slam qualifying round.
He played in the main round of the Wimbledon Championships in 1955 and 1956 and qualified for the second round of the French Open.
In Wimbledon, he played men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles. He also played in the U.S. Open in 1964.
Apart from playing in the Davis Cup, he has captained Pakistan’s Davis Cup team 32 times with results that have not been achieved by any other captain from the country.
Khawaja’s name was inducted when the French Tennis Federation celebrated 100 years of French Championship at Roland Garros, they built a commemorative wall displaying the names of players who had done well during the championship.
He is also the founder President of the International club whose head office is in England. Membership is only open for Grand Slam and Davis Cup players.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) awarded him with a gold medal at their annual general meeting held in Lausnne (Switzerland) before 300 delegates from 198 affiliated associations of ITF including Pakistan.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.