Doha: An illness to rising Austrian tennis star, Dominic Thiem has seen a popular visitor to the Qatar ExxonMobil Open as Germany’s Dustin Brown moves into the main draw players’ list of the coveted event.
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 and at the 2014 event came through qualifying to reach the quarter-finals where he was eventually defeated in a third set tiebreak by countryman Peter Gojowczyk.
Brown is known as ‘Dreddy Tennis’ as a result of his long dreadlocks.
He also has a flamboyant style on and off the court and is a popular player around the world. He reached three ATP World Tour quarter-finals 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.
“It’s unfortunate for Dominic that he has had to pull out,” said Karim Alami Tournament Director of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.
“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,” added Alami. Meanwhile, Qualifying for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex will start on Saturday and will continue till the following day. Fans can grab the action of the stage for free.
The main draw singles and doubles commences on January 5 with the finals to be played on January 10. Tickets are selling fast with the finals, semis and quarterfinals already sold out. THE PENINSULA
