By Sports Reporter/Doha
An illness to rising Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem has proved to be a boon for rising German Dustin Brown. The popular visitor to the Qatar ExxonMobil Open now moves into the main draw.
Thiem will not make the tournament in Doha due to illness. His place will be taken by Brown, who is of Jamaican decent, but German by nationality.
Brown is currently ranked 89th in the world. At the 2014 event he had to come through qualifying but managed to reach the quarterfinals where he was eventually defeated in a third set tie-break by countryman Peter Gojowczyk.
Brown, known as ‘Dreddy Tennis’ because of his long dreadlocks, has a flamboyant style on and off the court and is a popular player around the world. He reached three ATP World Tour quarterfinals in 2014, all on different surfaces—Doha on hardcourt, Houston on clay and on grass in Halle where he beat Rafael Nadal in the second round, perhaps the biggest moment of his career so far.
“It’s unfortunate for Dominic that he has had to pull out. He’s a talented player who I’m sure we will hear a lot more about and hopefully see again. Dustin is an entertaining player and showed in 2014 his real potential on the court. He’s a popular player and a great addition to the tournament,” said Karim Alami, tournament director of Qatar ExxonMobil Open, in a statement yesterday.
Qualifying for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open starts from January 3 (Saturday) 11 am onwards and continues till January 4 (Sunday). The entry is free for the public.
The main draw singles and doubles commences on January 5 (Monday) 3.30 pm onwards till the grand finale on January 10 (Saturday). Tickets are selling fast with the finals, semis and quarterfinals already sold out.
Dominic Thiem and Dustin Brown
