Brown makes first-round exit in Belgrade
DUSTIN Brown made a surprise first-round exit in the Gemax Open, losing 3-6, 2-6 to Slovak Dominik Hrbaty in the Serbian capital of Belgrade yesterday.
Unfortunately, the Jamaican, seeded at No 6 for the tournament, was among only two seeded players to record first-round exits, as third seed Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan was beaten, 7-6, 6-2, by Poland’s Michal Przysiezny.
The 25-year-old Brown, who achieved Jamaica’s highest ATP ranking in history (132nd) after reaching the quarter-finals of the South African Open and then the semi-finals of the Italian Bergamo Open, played well below his best in a match that was always going to be a tough assignment.
Hrbaty, 32, a former world top-20 player but now ranked at 141st, has shown good form of late, having got to the Bergamo Open semis like Brown.
The Slovkian used his experience to good effect, converting over 70 per cent on both first and second serves in closing out the match under an hour.
Overall, Brown won a mere 39 per cent of total points, which paled in comparison to the 61 per cent recorded against him by his opponent, who took all three break points on offer.
Brown will now try to redeem himself in the doubles with Austrian partner Martin Slanar. They had a good start on Monday when they defeated the pair of Kukushkin and Alex Bogdanovic, 6-7, 7-5, 10-6.
However, Brown and Slanar are expected to face a tougher test today against Frank Moser and Ivan Dodig, who knocked out the top seed duo of Jonathan Marray and Jamie Murray, winning 6-4, 7-6.
— Andrew Hancel