NEW YORK – Jamaica’s Dustin Brown was almost as hot as the broiling sun baking the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as he blasted his way past Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-4 7-6 (6) 7-5 to post his first Grand Slam tournament victory.
“Being Jamaican … heat is normally not an issue for me,” Brown said. “Today was extremely hot and I was definitely fighting with that.”
For the third straight day the year’s final major tennis event was played under extremely hot conditions. By 11:30 a.m. the temperature had reached 90 degrees with 42 percent humidity. It was even hotter on the asphalt courts, where temperatures topped 100 degrees.
Tenth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus appeared wobbly while playing, then collapsed to the ground while chasing down a ball on the baseline. At the time she was trailing Argentina’s Gisela Dulko 5-1.
“I was warming up in the gym prior to my match against Gisela Dulko when I fell while running a sprint,” Azarenka later said in a statement. “I fell forward and hit my arm and head. I was checked by the medical team before I went on court and they were courtside for monitoring.
“I felt worse as the match went on, having a headache and feeling dizzy. I also started having trouble seeing and felt weak before I fell.
“I was taken to the hospital for some medical tests and have been diagnosed with a mild concussion.”
The only thing missing from Brown’s impressive victory was the steel band that for several years would entertain fans on the plaza outside Arthur Ashe Stadium. But while there was no music, there was plenty of Jamaican joy surrounding the outside court where the two non-seeded players had been relegated.
“It felt like I played a Davis Cup match at home there because a lot of Jamaican guys and Jamaican guys I know that live in New York came out to support me,” Brown said. “It definitely helped me in the hard times where I was really struggling – concentrating and also struggling with my body.”
Wearing dreadlocks and day-glo shoelaces – one orange, the other lime green – the 6-foot-5 (1.96m) Brown slammed 21 aces to go along with his nine double-faults. He finished with 116 total points, 20 more than his opponent.
“That’s one of my biggest weapons, my serve, and it definitely was there when I needed it the most. Especially at the end when I realized that I tried to close out the points really fast,” said.
Born in Celle, Germany, to a Jamaican father and German mother, Brown has honed his skills on the minor-league clay court tournaments of Europe. He pulled off a shocker at a grass-court event this past summer – in Newport, Rhode Island, USA – when he beat another big boomer, American Sam Querrey. It was the Jamaican’s first victory over a top 20 player.
Against Ramirez Hidalgo, Brown mixed his booming serves with deft drop shots, most of the time catching his foe way behind the baseline. Time and again, Ramirez Hidalgo would race to the net, arriving too late to do anything with the ball and usually shoveling it into the net.
“I try it and see how it works,” Brown said of his drop shot. “If the guy is running it down every time and hits a winner, then I should stop. But today it worked pretty well, so I kept using it.”
Brown broke his Spanish foe twice in the opening set, then held at 15 in the 10th game to take first blood, 6-4. The next time either player broke serve, it again was Brown, and this time it was to wrap up the first-round victory.
In the final set, Brown lost just five points on his serve, and no more than one in any of his six service games.
With Ramirez Hidalgo serving to level the set at 5-5, Brown battled through four deuces before he finally closed out the 65-minute victory on his third match point.
In this, the third day of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament, several seeded players were ousted.
Young American qualifier Ryan Harrison, making his main draw debut, knocked off 15th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-3 6-7 (4) 6-3 6-4.
“I played him in Indian Wells (California, USA),” the 18-year-old Harrison said of his veteran opponent. “I know kind of what I’m going to get from him.
“He serves very well. Off the ground he’s pretty steady, doesn’t miss a lot. He relies on you to make some mental errors and uses his experience and his serve and his ability to play to his advantage. Coming out today I was looking forward to … playing as aggressive as possible and using my transition game to help me.”
Seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic was bounced by Frenchman Michael Llodra 7-6 (3) 6-4 6-4.
In women’s matches during the day, Virginie Razzano knocked off French compatriot Marion Bartoli, the 13th seed, 7-5 6-4; Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic beat number 21 Zheng Jie of China, and Luxemburg’s Mandy Minella eliminated number 32 Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-4 6-0.