Dustin Brown (born 8 December 1984)[1] is a German-Jamaican professional tennis player who rose to fame after beating Rafael Nadal at the Halle Open in 2014 and at Wimbledon in 2015. He is known for his technique, speed, and unorthodox playing style, often entertaining the crowd with trick shots. His nickname is "Dreddy" due to his distinctive long dreadlocked hair.[2]
Brown competes mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour, in singles and doubles, having won 31 titles overall. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of No. 64 in October 2016 and his career-high doubles ranking of No. 43 in May 2012.[3][4] Brown is notable for being one of only two players who are undefeated against Rafael Nadal after playing more than one match with him, holding a 2–0 head-to-head record.[5]
Brown has yet to reach an ATP singles final, but has made two semifinals at the 2016 Open Sud de France and the 2016 Swiss Open Gstaad. In doubles, he has won two titles on the ATP Tour.
Early life
Brown was born on 8 December 1984 in Celle, West Germany, a town situated near the city of Hanover. His father Leroy met his German-born mother Inge in Jamaica before settling in Celle. This unusual dual nationality has earned him the nickname "Shabba" based on a line from Jamie Foxx in the 1997 comedy Booty Call where he claimed to be a "Germaican". He also has two half-brothers named Steve and Dean. He played several sports such as football, judo, and handball throughout his childhood. He started playing tennis at the age of 5 but didn't really focus on the sport until the age of eight: "When I made the decision to pursue tennis instead of football, of course I wanted to be successful. I didn't want just to end up playing for a club somewhere."[6] His reported idol growing up was Russian tennis player and former world No. 1 Marat Safin.[7] His junior tennis career went well enough to draw the attention of Kim Michael Wittenberg, an American who ran a tennis academy near Hanover. Wittenberg regularly gave Brown lessons, and according to his pupil, he "taught me to play tennis."[6][8]
At 11 years old, in 1996, the family returned to Jamaica, settling in Montego Bay. The move was motivated in part by the high cost of training in Germany as well as his need to develop discipline on the court: "I was pretty mentally soft when I was young. Anything could happen when I played—I could lose my temper, I got disqualified."[6] In Jamaica, track and field, soccer, and cricket were the sports that commanded the best resources, tennis was played on poorly maintained public courts and with low-quality balls.[6] Nevertheless, he continued to play junior tennis.[8]
In 2004, 20-year-old Brown became unhappy with tennis in Jamaica, his family thought his potential warranted returning to Germany and a Volkswagencampervan that could sleep up to three people set him up.[8] The mobile lodgings enabled him to play in the various European tournaments: "It was a brilliant idea by my parents, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to go on playing. It was a means of competing week in, week out." He also brought in income with his racquet stringing machine, giving other players lower cost service, and letting out his spare mobile accommodations for a night.[6]
Junior career
Brown played his first junior match in August 1999 at the age of 14 at a grade 4 tournament in Jamaica. In 2002, he competed in two junior Grand Slam tournaments, reaching the second round of Wimbledon in singles as a qualifier and the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in doubles partnering Luka Gregorc. Brown achieved a career-high junior singles ranking of 61 on March 18, 2002, and ended his junior career with a 34–26 record. In doubles, he achieved a career-high ranking of 116 on November 11, 2002, and a 15–24 overall record.[9]
Junior Grand Slam results – Singles:
Australian Open: A (-) French Open: A (-) Wimbledon: 2R (2002) US Open: 1R (2002)
Junior Grand Slam results – Doubles:
Australian Open: A (-) French Open: A (-) Wimbledon: 1R (2002) US Open: QF (2002)
Professional career
2002–2009
Brown officially turned pro in April 2002 at the age of 17 and began representing Jamaica. Between 2002 and 2009, Brown reached 11 ITF singles finals and 32 ITF doubles finals, winning 3 singles titles and 16 doubles titles.
Brown made his ATP debut at the 2003 Hall of Fame Open after qualifying for the main draw. He lost in the first round to Bob Bryan in three sets.
Brown reached his first Challenger final at the 2009 Baden Open where he lost to Florian Mayer in straight sets. Three months later, he won his first Challenger title at the 2009 Samarkand Challenger defeating Jonathan Dasnières de Veigy in the final. For the rest of 2009, he made four more Challenger finals including one doubles final. These results helped increase his ranking from 494 at the start of the year to 144 at year's end.
On May 17, 2010, Brown reached the top 100 for the first time, debuting at No. 99. In June, he competed in his third ATP main draw at the Queen's Club Championships in London, defeating Frank Dancevic in three sets before losing to Denis Istomin in the second round. It was reported at the time that lack of funding and support from the Jamaican Tennis Association had tempted him to switch national association to Great Britain, his paternal grandmother being British.[11][12] Later that month, Brown made his Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon after receiving direct entry into the main draw. He lost in the first round to 16th seed Jürgen Melzer in four sets. After another ATP quarterfinal at the 2010 Hall of Fame Open, Brown received direct entry into the US Open and won his opening match against Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo to record his first Grand Slam win. He lost in the second round to world No. 4 Andy Murray in straight sets.
In October 2010, Brown began representing Germany and competed under the German flag for the first time at the Challenger Eckental, where he reached the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Igor Sijsling.[13] His first title success playing under the German flag came a week later at the Lambertz Open, defeating Sijsling in the final.[14]
Brown partnered Jonathan Marray at the 2012 French Open; they lost in the first round. Brown/Marray also reached four Challenger tour finals in 2012, winning two in Bosnia and Italy.[15]
In 2014 he achieved his most significant career win by defeating world No. 1 Rafael Nadal at the Halle Open as a wildcard.
At Wimbledon in 2015 Brown came through qualifying without dropping a set. After beating Yen-hsun Lu in the first round, Brown then upset, for the second time in his career, 10th seed and two-time champion Rafael Nadal in four sets in the second round,[16] before losing to Victor Troicki in four sets in the next round.
In January 2016, Brown played world No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Qatar Open. He lost in straight sets.
Brown reached his first singles semifinal on the ATP World Tour at the 2016 Open Sud de France after having lost eight consecutive quarterfinal matches.[17] There, he lost against top seed and eventual champion Richard Gasquet in three sets.
Brown reached a career debut second round of the French Open in 2016.
Brown competed in the first round of the 2016 Summer Olympics against Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil. Brown was leading 6–4, 4–4 when he went down with an ankle injury. Medical staff taped him, he returned to the match playing two points. Bellucci increased the score to 4–5 in the second set. Brown could not return play and retired in tears.
On October 10, 2016, Brown achieved a career-high singles ranking of 64 and ended the yeer ranked 72.
Brown lost in straight sets to Andy Murray at Wimbledon in 2017 in the second round.[18]
Brown qualified for the 2018 Australian Open in what would be his last grand slam to date. He lost to João Sousa in the first round in five sets.
At the 2018 Open Sud de France, Brown was one game away from defeating Nicolas Mahut in the first round, but he sustained a back injury and could not continue to play giving Mahut the victory. He left the court in tears.
In April 2019, Brown reclaimed an ATP Challenger singles title from three years previous at the Mouratoglou Open in Sophia Antipolis, winning the final over Filip Krajinović in straight sets.[19]
Throughout 2021, Brown seemed to focus less on singles and more on doubles as he was competing in more doubles events than singles and was finding more success as he was reaching a handful of quarterfinals and semifinals in challenger events and ATP events.
Brown received a wildcard into the 2021 Stuttgart Open due to his performance in the previous edition. He lost in the first round to Nikoloz Basilashvili in straight sets. This was his last professional singles match.
In 2022, Brown stopped representing Germany and returned to representing Jamaica in tournaments.
Due to persistent injuries since the start of 2018, Brown announced in January 2024 that he would retire from professional tennis at the end of the 2024 season.[22]
Davis Cup
Brown made his Davis Cup debut for Jamaica in 2003 which would be the only time he played for Jamaica at the Davis Cup. He won 4 of 5 singles matches played and all 3 doubles matches played.
Brown only played one match for Germany in 2015 in the singles where he lost to Dominican Víctor Estrella Burgos in four sets.
Brown's combined record for Jamaica and Germany is 4–2 in singles and 3–0 in doubles giving him an overall record of 7–2.
Style of play
Brown is considered a serve-and-volleyer as he is known for his big serves and lightly volleying the ball in once it is returned to him. His serve speed averages at around 190–205km/h but has reached up to 220km/h.
Brown's shotmaking style is very unorthodox as he mixes his shots up with hard-hitting groundstrokes to light drop shots which makes his opponents have to be ready for anything on every point. He is also known for his impressive trick shots where he hits very difficult shots from difficult positions. These shots include tweeners, behind-the-back shots, diving shots, down-the-line shots, jump shots, drop shots, etc. This causes his playing style to be highly entertaining to the crowd as most tennis fans call him one of the most entertaining players on the tour.
Brown is also known for his very fast returns and winners on both his forehand and his backhand and his net and volleying skills.
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Brown's match record against players who have been ranked in the top 10,with those who are active in boldface. Only ATP Tour and ATP Challenger main draw matches are considered.
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won 16 singles titles on the ATP Tour, tied for eighth most among active players. He is also fourth among active players with over 600 career match wins. His best performances in Grand Slam singles tournaments have been three semifinal appearances, two at the Wimbledon Championships and once at the US Open. His best performance in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 singles tournaments was being the runner-up in Hamburg in 2005 and Toronto in 2006 and 2012. He won the mixed doubles title at the 2004 French Open, partnering with Tatiana Golovin. He also won the men's doubles Olympic bronze medal in 2012 with his doubles partner Julien Benneteau. Gasquet is best known for his elegant groundstrokes and his one-handed backhand.
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a Spanish professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7, achieved in April 2009. His best performance at a major was the semifinals of the 2009 Australian Open, where he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in five sets. The match itself has been considered one of the greatest tennis matches of all time. Verdasco has also reached the quarterfinals twice at the US Open, in 2009 and 2010, losing to Novak Djokovic and Nadal respectively, and once at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, where he led eventual champion Andy Murray by two sets to love before being defeated in five sets. In singles, he won the 2010 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell and six ATP 250 tournaments, and was a finalist at the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and five ATP 500 tournaments. In men's doubles, he won the 2013 ATP World Tour Finals and three ATP 500 tournaments and was a finalist at the 2013 Shanghai Rolex Masters, all of them partnering David Marrero. Verdasco earned his 500th win at the 2018 Mutua Madrid Open becoming the 45th man in ATP World Tour history with 500 wins. He is currently No. 7 on the list of active players with over 500 wins. He has the second-most losses in singles history, behind Feliciano López (490). Verdasco aided Spain in winning three Davis Cup titles, winning the deciding match in both 2008 and 2009, and being part of the winning team in 2011. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight. Verdasco worked in Las Vegas with Andre Agassi and his team, including Darren Cahill and Gil Reyes.
Jürgen Melzer is an Austrian former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a younger brother, Gerald Melzer, with whom he played doubles in several tournaments.
Martin Kližan is a Slovak professional tennis player. The winner of the 2006 French Open boys' singles title, Kližan turned pro in 2007 and had a career-high singles ranking of world No. 24, achieved on 27 April 2015, and world No. 73 in doubles, achieved on 4 May 2015.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on the ATP Tour, including two Masters 1000 titles.
Fabio Fognini is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. Fognini's most successful surface is red clay, where he has won eight of his nine ATP singles titles, most notably at the 2019 Monte-Carlo Masters. He also reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 French Open. Together with Simone Bolelli, Fognini won the 2015 Australian Open doubles championship, becoming the first all-Italian men's pair to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era.
Steve Darcis is a Belgian retired professional tennis player. In his career, he won two ATP titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 38 on 22 May 2017.
Robin Haase is a Dutch professional tennis player.
Kevin Michael Anderson is a South African professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking of world No. 5 on 16 July 2018. He was the first South African to be ranked in the top 5 since Kevin Curren was No. 5 on 23 September 1985.On 6 February 2011, Anderson defeated Somdev Devvarman in his hometown of Johannesburg to capture the South African Open title for his first ATP Tour-level title. His second ATP title came at the 2012 Delray Beach Open when he defeated Marinko Matosevic. Anderson won his third championship in 2015 at the Winston-Salem Open with a victory over Pierre-Hugues Herbert. He ended 2017 winning the exhibition World Tennis Championship. His fourth title came in February 2018 at the New York Open. Anderson reached his maiden Grand Slam final at the 2017 US Open, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. In the 2018 Wimbledon semifinals, Anderson reached his second major final by defeating American John Isner in the second-longest match in the history of major tournaments. The match, which lasted 6 hours and 36 minutes, was only beaten in length by the 2010 match between Isner and France's Nicolas Mahut. He then lost to Novak Djokovic in the final in straight sets. On 3 May 2022, Anderson retired at age 35 but he announced his comeback in July 2023.
Horacio Zeballos Jr. is an Argentine professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 39, achieved in March 2013, and his career-high doubles ranking is world No. 3, achieved in September 2019. In doubles, he has reached the men's doubles finals at the 2019 US Open and at Wimbledon in 2021 and 2023 alongside Marcel Granollers. In singles, he has reached the fourth round at the French Open, doing so in 2017.
Leonardo Martín Mayer is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. Mayer achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 21 in June 2015 and world No. 48 in doubles in January 2019. He was coached by Alejandro Fabbri and Leo Alonso. He was born in Corrientes and resides in Buenos Aires.
Andrey Alexandrovich Kuznetsov is a Russian professional tennis player. On 25 April 2016, he achieved his singles career-high of world No. 39.
Lukáš Rosol is a Czech professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 26, achieved on 22 September 2014. He competes on the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Tour, both in singles and doubles.
Jack Sock is an American pickleball player and former professional tennis player. He won four career singles titles and 17 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, and had career-high tennis rankings of world No. 8 in singles and world No. 2 in doubles.
The 2013 ATP World Tour Finals (also known as the 2013 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament that was played on indoor hard courts at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom, between 4 and 11 November 2013. It was the season-ending event for the best singles players and doubles teams of the 2013 ATP World Tour.
The 2014 ATP World Tour Finals (also known as the 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom, between 9 and 16 November 2014. It was the season-ending event for the best singles players and doubles teams on the 2014 ATP World Tour. The Bryan Brothers won the title at the doubles tournament, while Novak Djokovic successfully defended his single title for the second time after Roger Federer withdrew from the final, the first walkover in a final in the tournament's 45-year history.
The 2015 ATP World Tour Finals (also known as the 2015 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament that was played at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom, between 15 and 22 November 2015. It was the season-ending event for the best singles players and doubles teams on the 2015 ATP World Tour.
Félix Auger-Aliassime is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of No. 6, which he achieved on November 7, 2022, making him the second-highest-ranked Canadian man in ATP rankings history and the fourth-highest-ranked Canadian player in history. He has a doubles ranking of No. 60, attained on November 1, 2021. He has won five singles titles and one doubles title on the ATP Tour, and was selected as the 2022 Canadian Press athlete of the year.
The 2017 ATP Finals (also known as the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom, from 12 to 19 November 2017. It was the season-ending event for the highest-ranked singles players and doubles teams on the 2017 ATP World Tour.
The 2019 ATP Finals (also known as the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament played at the O2 Arena on indoor hard courts in London, United Kingdom, from 10 to 17 November 2019. It was the season-ending event for the highest-ranked singles players and doubles teams on the 2019 ATP Tour and was the 50th edition of the tournament (45th in doubles). The singles event was won by Stefanos Tsitsipas over Dominic Thiem in three sets. In doubles, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut defeated Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus in straight sets.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Jamaica (2002–2010, 2022–2024)
Germany (2011–2022)
