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Dustin Brown defeats Thomas Muster 6-4 6-4 in Kitzbuhel
3 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Dustin Brown has defeated former world #1 Thomas Muster 6-4 6-4 in the first round of the Kitzbuhel Challenger.
It was a match between a young lion trying to establish himself in the tennis jungle versus a wily, old alpha-male who once was the reigning emperor of the tennis universe (in 1996). The 42-year-old Muster has now lost both of his 2010 matches in straight sets but reportedly said after that he will patiently continue his comeback quest and expects to hit his pinnacle point of conditioning in about 11 months.
25-year-old Brown, dubbed ‘The most exciting player in tennis’ by our own Dan Markowitz because of his fearless attacking style and wildly innovative shotmaking creativity displays on court, will hold on to his top 100 ranking (he’s #99 right now, one slot ahead of Donald Young and one spot behind Peter Luczak).
Since making his thrilling quarterfinal run in Newport, Rhode, Island – which included a stunning straight set win over Sam Querrey, Brown had last four matches in a row before today’s triumph over Muster (l. to Dabul in Newport, Simon in Stuttgart, Olejniczak in Poznon, Poland, and Lammer in Gstaad).
3 comments
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Dan Markowitz · August 4, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Eeg, beating Muster at this stage is no great feat. I don’t know why–other than familiarity and finances–Brown would go back to Europe and play on clay after doing so well on grass in Newport. I would’ve thought that he would’ve continued on the American hard court circuit. Watching Brown’s burn-and-slash game, I would not think he would be a very competent clay court player. He’s a fast-court whirlwind.
vinko · August 5, 2010 at 3:38 am
I wonder if Muster is still making that awful sound each time he strikes the ball. You could hear his grunts all the way up to the nosebleed seats.
Dan Markowitz · August 5, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Dont remember Muster grunting, but I think its compelling that at 42 he’s making a comeback. We’ve seen 42 yr olds compete at high levels in other sports, George Foreman, Julio Franco was 46 in baseball, but never in tennis have we’ve seen a 40+ player break into top 100. It will be interesting to see how far Muster takes this. Sampras turns 40 next year, Agassi’s now 40, I bet either of those two guys could still be top 40.