Guardian UK Article: Jamaican Tennis Stud Dustin Brown Talks About His Life & Tennis Career!
Camper van kid Dustin Brown aiming to stall Andy Murray
• Pair face off in second round of US Open
• Jamaican says he does not envy Murray
- Kevin Mitchell at Flushing Meadows
- The Guardian, Friday 3 September 2010
Dustin Brown will be Andy Murray’s opponent in the second round of the US Open. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPAThey have never met, never even spoken. “Well, I know him from the TV, yeah,” says Dustin Brown of Andy Murray, who will make him more famous in New York today than he might ever have dreamed while slogging around Europe in his camper van for years, picking up small cheques in small towns.
Brown does not make it on to TV often, except when he crashes the party like he has done this week at the US Open, blitzing the Spaniard Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo in straight sets in the first round. Even that match, out on uncovered court eight, went under the television radar.
Murray did not see it. He was still finishing off the Slovak Lukas Lacko in the literal and figurative glare of Arthur Ashe Court, the featured TV match on ESPN. So this, without question, is the biggest day of the Jamaican’s eight-year career, and may be one of the Scot’s trickiest if Brown gets his booming serve going as he did when he aced Hildago 21 times on Wednesday. For that reason alone, the fourth seed will not take Brown lightly, a hungry opponent 119 places below him in the world rankings. The likelihood is that Murray’s wicked return of serve will check Brown’s power.
If they were to make a tennis version of Trading Places, Murray and Brown would provide perfect story material. On one side of the net there is the complex, intense Scot, reluctant owner of a red Ferrari, with more than $12m (£7.8m) in the bank and counting, who does not have a coach because he let the last one go and has not yet sifted through the candidates for the job of guiding his career to the next high point. He travels with his friends, family and trainers, has a condominium in Florida and every expectation of one day being No1 in the world.
Facing him is the freewheeling, dreadlocked hipster whose wind-in-the-hair, nomadic existence on the circuit has earned him an average of $29,182.50 a year, roughly an eightieth of Murray’s annual income. The gap between immense wealth and scraping-along money is reflected in the rankings. It is a ruthless meritocracy.
“The last year has been very good for me,” Brown says, “ranked from maybe 400-something to inside the top 100, and that with limited support from federations, limited practice. I think there’s definitely much more to come. If I get the chance, financial backing and, you know, have my own coach travelling with me…
“I’m getting a purse of maybe $18,000 here. So I will go home with a plus. If you’re playing challengers and you’re maybe going to Australia to play a challenger, or to Johannesburg, and you lose in the first round, you could go home with a minus.”
Brown does not have a coach, either. He cannot afford one. So his friend Daniel Puttkammer, a Swiss who has done a bit of coaching in the past, is with him. Does he not envy Murray just a little? “Well, it depends. There are a lot of people who have a lot of money. But it also depends if you’re still a free person. I’m very free. I can do what I want. If I don’t feel like playing, for example next week, then I’ll go home.
“Being in his position and having his type of money, there are a certain amount of contracts that you’re tied down to and definitely rules you have to follow.
“So that’s why, probably, I don’t have any contracts, besides Topspin Clothing and Air Berlin, because of playing Bundesliga [Germany’s club league tennis]. I’ve been free most of my life. I’m definitely looking to make sure I don’t give away too much of my freedom and have other people deciding for me where I have to play, where I have to train. Then I just can’t perform good.”
They are not trading places tonight, then, just fizzing forehands, drop shots and maybe even the odd stare. It is not a fairy tale. Not yet. Not unless there is an almighty upset. When we turn the TV back on for the third round, in all probability it will be Murray’s determined features we will see. But Brown’s will light up New York for a while.
Yesterday Mardy Fish gave American fans something to cheer about as he reached the third round with a 7-5 6-0 6-2 victory over Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas. The women’s top seed, Caroline Wozniacki, demolished Chang Kai-chen 6-0 6-0.
Youtube interview: Hot Jamaican Tennis Player Dustin Brown Talks About the hardships, struggles, to make it on the ATP Tour!
Dustin Brown is a hunk! It is so nice to see a Jamaican tennis player reach the ATP Tour top 100! I don’t think people realize how competitive men’s tennis is! I am so proud of Dustin Brown he’s in the top 100 and he’s doing very well! Dustin is so handsome!
Is The USTA Racist & Sexist Because Andy Roddick Is A White American Man? Why Hasn’t Andy Roddick Been Fined For His Bad Behaviour?
Watch this video clip you will notice Roddick did not just complain about the foot fault once he made a disgusting scene! The USTA did not even warn Roddick during his second round match! How can Andy Roddick get away without even a warning?
The logical reason is, because Roddick is a white American male due to his race and gender he gets a pass for his bad behaviour on the tennis court!
Some people are making excuses for Roddick just because he did not swear. A person can be petulant without swearing! Roddick was cruel to the lineswoman she did not deserve to be treated this way!
Roddick walks around the tennis court like a monster, he clearly is intimidating the chair umpire and the tennis officials need to stand up this creep!
The chair umpire is afraid of Roddick and that’s very sad. Tennis needs to get some tougher chair umpires to tell Andy Roddick to just shut up and play tennis!
It is obvious watching the clip the chair umpire is afraid of Roddick but he is in a position of authority!
I noticed that male and female athletes are treated differently by society. If a female athlete acted the way Andy Roddick acts she would be scorned and
criticized. However, since Andy Roddick is a white male the excuse is “boys will be boys.”
The reason Roddick was acting like a petulant child is because he was furious that Janko Tipsarevic was beating him. Whenever Roddick gets frustrated he becomes emotional and nasty.
Roddick also was trying to throw Janko off of this game his behaviour is pure gamesmanship. I credit Janko for not allowing the disgusting Andy Roddick to make him lose focus! The great thing about this incident is it underscores the sexist and racist double standards of the media, public, and society.
I have watched many tennis matches and noticed Roddick always acts like this! However, why hasn’t Roddick been fined for his unprofessional conduct? The media are silent to his blatant favourtism. So because Roddick is a white American male means he can treat the linespeople, chair umpire, and his opponent like trash?
Roddick also imitated Janko’s grunt because he was so upset that he was losing. When is the USTA or the ATP Tour going to fine this jerk?
What is the USTA waiting for and why haven’t they fined the American jerk Andy Rodidck? Last year, the USTA and the white American media blasted Serena Williams for her unprofessional conduct during the US Open. Everyone knows Serena was very upset and I agree that Serena’s unprofessional behaviour was disgusting.
However, I have not read ONE article blasting Roddick for his unprofessionalism? Why can’t the white media just be honest, because Roddick is a white American male he gets a pass for his bad behaviour. Do you think if Roddick was black the white press would of been silent? Of course not!
Andy Roddick’s behaviour towards the lineswoman, Janko Tipsarevic, and the chair umpire was disgraceful and he must be fined by the USTA. The USTA is sending a dangerous and a very racist & sexist message that white men have the right to be rude, petulant, and unprofessional and get away with it.
Meanwhile, Serena Williams had to pay a huge fine over $92,000 dollars and she’s on “probation” from the USTA. Serena has spoken out that she definitely believes the USTA is out to get her and I agree. Serena is injured, but I also think she’s not competing at the 2010 US Open because she is sending a message to the USTA. The women’s US Open event is a complete joke! Serena is the queen of women’s tennis and the haters resent the fact Serena only played six events this year but she won the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Serena is head and shoulders above all the other women on the WTA tour she is already a legend in women’s tennis history.
However, Andy Roddick is a one slam loser, he’s only won the US Open in 2003 and nothing else! The American press never attack Roddick for his abhorrent behaviour on the court. One of the reasons I believe Roddick is never going to win another slam is because he is very mentally weak. Rodidck doesn’t have the mental toughness or maturity of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Gayblackcanada 