Tennis player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi has received the thanks of a nation over the past week for putting smiles on the faces of Pakistanis desperate for good news.

And over this time, Pakistanis have learned a lot about their newest hero as he has done interviews with several television and radio channels. He’s a simple guy from Lahore who likes to watch the TV show Friends, idolizes Swedish tennis star Stefan Edberg and listens to heavy metal to get psyched up before a match.

Today, while getting formal recognition from the government, tennis fans also learned that he’s a softy: despite the cool and composed demeanour he has shown recently, he is also capable of shedding a few tears in public.

The Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, presented a gold medal to Qureshi for his amazing finishes at the US Open 2010. Qureshi, a doubles specialist, made it to both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles finals to become the first Pakistani ever to compete in a tennis Grand Slam final.

The award ceremony took place in Lahore at a special reception at the Governor’s House. Both the Governor and Qureshi addressed the crowd. As Qureshi spoke, it was clear why the rising tennis star has become a national hero: he’s 100% genuine. After winning over Pakistanis, and the world, with his words of peace and understanding during the US Open awards ceremony, the well-spoken sportsman cemented his place among the hearts of his fellow countrymen with simple words on the importance of dreams, hard work and family. The 30-year-old Qureshi quickly became emotional while thanking his family and talking about his grandfather, who was also a top national tennis player before partition. A video of Qureshi’s speech in Lahore is below (fast forward to 3:20 in the video to skip over the introductions).

Also below are more videos of Qureshi’s (and Pakistan’s) unforgettable week of tennis joy.

Click the play button on any of the three videos to begin:

Qureshi speaking in Lahore after receiving his gold medal (fast forward to 3:30 to see Qureshi).

In case you did not see or hear Qureshi speak during the US Open doubles awards ceremony, you can see the footage below:

And a great interview with both Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna for News X off the court, two days before the men’s doubles final.