Tennis ace Aisam-ul-Haq has said that he wanted to team up with India's Sania Mirza for mixed doubles but fears of controversy did not allow his plans to pan out.

Talking to media during an online conference, Aisam said that he did not ask Mirza, also the wife of cricketer Shoaib Malik, about the possibility of partnering but it did not work.

"I sense that it was because of a possible fear of any unnecessary controversy," said Aisam who had a successful partnership in men's double with India's Rohan Bopanna.

"With Boppana, I had my best men's doubles partnership and we were known as Indo-Pak express."

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Replying to a question, Aisam - the only Pakistani to reach a grand slam final - said that he wants to win a grand slam before hanging up his boots.

Aisam lost in the final of US Open men's doubles in 2010. He had once again came close to a grand slam title last year when he reached the semi-final of mixed-doubles in French Open.

"The US Open final was something that I could have won. If there's any result I can undo today, it would be that game," Aisam said.

He regretted that his matches did not get much airtime in Pakistan or he could have got sponsorships. Aisam further said that Pakistan Tennis Federation did not do enough to capitalise on his US Open performance in 2010.

"That moment should have changed the face of tennis in Pakistan. But the PTF and the government didn't do much," he pointed out.

"I am not against cricket, cricketers deserve what they're getting but the government and corporates must not neglect sportspersons who are doing good in other sports," Aisam said.

The 40-year-old revealed that he and Aqeel Khan did not receive the announced prize money of Rs2m each for beating Korea in Davis Cup. According to Aisam, both the players received only half of the announced money while the prize money according to the policy on winning South Asian Games medals is also due.

"If we get the due amount today, we'll straight away spend them in our relief efforts for the affectees of lockdown," Aisam announced.

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He also backed the idea of having an IPTL type tennis league in Pakistan but said that to have such a league with top international players, Pakistan needs to have a proper infrastructure of tennis.

"We need to have some infrastructure before inviting the top players. We can also turn cricket stadiums into make-shift tennis courts. If these top players can come to India then there is no reason why they wouldn't come to Pakistan," he said.

"But to have anything like that, we need support from the government and the sponsors," Aisam highlighted.

Replying to a question, Aisam said that one player he would like to partner with is Roger Federer and the player he would want to avoid facing is Rafael Nadal.

"Roger Federer is a complete player and my favorite, I would love to partner him with one day. Nadal, on the other hand, is also a dangerous player and can make one struggle on court," he added.

Controversy concerns kept me from teaming up with Sania Mirza: Aisam-ul-Haq