BROWN SETS UP MEETING WITH NADAL ON MIXED DAY FOR GERMANS IN HALLE BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 9th June 2014

BROWN SETS UP MEETING WITH NADAL ON MIXED DAY FOR GERMANS IN HALLE BY RICKY DIMON |

Rafael Nadal’s first match since the French Open, which will come just three days after he captured a ninth Roland Garros title by defeating Novak Djokovic last weekend, is set for Wednesday against Dustin Brown during second-round action at the Gerry Weber Open.

Nadal always has solid crowd support, but this will essentially be an away match for the world No. 1 as Brown now hails from Germany after initially playing under the Jamaican flag to begin his career. Brown, a charismatic, dreadlocked, net-charging player advanced on Monday with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Andrey Kuznetsov.

“It’s going to be nice to play him,” Brown said of Nadal, “and I much prefer it to be on grass than on clay. I am really looking forward to the match and it’s on my favorite surface. The good thing is I don’t feel any pressure and can just focus on playing my game.”

The Nadal-Brown winner may face another German in Philipp Kohlschreiber, who reached the second round by defeating Andreas Seppi by the same 6-3, 6-4 margin. Kohlschreiber knocked out Nadal in the Halle quarterfinals in 2012. He will next meet Pierre-Hugues Hebert in the second round.

Countryman Tommy Haas, the Halle champion in 2012 and a semifinalist last season, is still dealing with a shoulder problem and withdrew from the event. The 36-year-old sounded like man possibly near the end of a career as he announced that he would be unable to participate this week.

“It is very very sad for me because Halle is a very special place for me,” Haas said. “I always played well here and prepared myself well for the weeks to come and especially for Wimbledon…. It is a difficult setback and very difficult for me and my career, especially given the point in time and my age.”

Topics: Dustin Brown, Gerry Weber Open, Novak Djokovic, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Rafael Nadal, Ricky Dimon, Tennis, Tennis News, Tommy Haas

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10sBalls_com says:

June 9, 2014 at 8:54 pm

BROWN SETS UP MEETING WITH NADAL ON MIXED DAY FOR GERMANS IN HALLE BY RICKY DIMON (@RD_Tennistalk) http://t.co/lQh0ZZCF32 @DreddyTennis
RD_Tennistalk says:

June 9, 2014 at 9:03 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: BROWN SETS UP MEETING WITH NADAL ON MIXED DAY FOR GERMANS IN HALLE BY RICKY DIMON (@RD_Tennistalk) http://t.co/lQh0ZZCF3…