'We cannot afford Mr Brown'

Jermaine Lannaman, Star Writer

President of Tennis Jamaica (TJ), Phillip Gore, says it would be unfortunate if Jamaica were to lose rising international tennis star Dustin Brown to Great Britain.

However, given the fact that there is an ongoing rift between Brown and the association, this could very well become a reality.

Brown, who has been racing up the international tennis rankings over the past two years and is at present ranked at number 105 in the world, was defeated in the first round of the prestigious Wimbledon Open on Monday by number 16 seed Austrian Jurgen Melzer, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Ja's first time

It was the first time a Jamaican was competing at Wimbledon since Richard Russell in 1970.

The dreadlocked Brown, who has a Jamaican father and a German mother, said he has been considering representing Great Britain, the home of his grandmother on his father's side, as throughout his career, he has failed to get support from TJ, the governing body for the sport locally.

"I am the number one (tennis player) in my country, probably the best player Jamaica ever had, but I have no support from the tennis federation, which is kind of sad," Brown was quoted as saying at a press conference prior to his showdown with Melzer.

"They are not giving me any funds, no coaching, no help. And, it doesn't really help getting an email two days ago telling me "congratulations on your wildcard for Wimbledon".

"If it turns out to be a positive situation (representing Great Britain), then I definitely will look more into it," added the 6' 5" 25-year-old.

Unfair and unreasonable

But Gore, in defence of TJ, said Brown was unfair and unreasonable as the association has in the past tried to help him.

"It would be unfortunate if we were to lose him to England, as he is a talented man. But we cannot afford Mr Brown, because we do not have the resources that England has and that he demands," said Gore.

"The fact of the matter is we have always supported and acknowledged Dustin Brown's abilities and skills. In terms of support, we support him in the ways we can, as we don't have the money to support players as Brown on the international circuit. But Brown does not accept this."

Gore continued: "When I took over Tennis Jamaica five years ago, I met with Brown and asked him to let bygones be bygones and let us move forward. But he refused and said he would not play for Jamaica again as long as Dougie Burke remains as national technical director.

"Dustin Brown has also personally attacked me, as I am a director of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and he has asked them to kick me off the Hall of Fame for refusing to give him money to compete on the international circuit)."

Asked what Brown needed to compete for Jamaica, Gore said he needed to apologise and accept Douglas Burke as technical director.

"First of all, he needs to apologise to the directors of Tennis Jamaica for his public comments against us; and secondly, accept Mr Burke as our technical director. We have said this to him over and over. We are quite prepared to work with him, but those two things need to happen."

Brown, who is based in Germany, has rocketed 460 places up the rankings since 2008 and is now ranked 55 places above British number two Alex Bogdanovic.