Little light at the end of the tunnel: Brown on return to court

Berlin, May 2 (IANS) Germany’s Dustin Brown said that it is surreal to be returning to tennis action. Brown is the highest-profile player in the eight-man draw that has been put together for the Tennis-Point tournament, played at Germany’s Base Tennis Academy in Hohr-Grenzhausen, a small town found between Cologne and Frankfurt.

“It’s nice to finally play, it’s a little surreal to be honest, with everything that is actually going on in the world,” former world number 64 Brown told the Tennis Channel, who are streaming the matches live. Brown won his opening two round-robin matches on Friday.

The event is taking place without spectators, line judges and ball kids and handshakes at any point are prohibited. Players arrive alone and have their own designated space and once on court, they sit at opposite ends during changeovers.

“With all the safety guidelines I think everyone has done pretty well, doing their best. Even sometimes when it’s not that easy. Very happy to be out here and have some fun.”

“There is not that much pressure,” the 35-year-old, who helped devise the format with Base Tennis owner Rodney Rapson, said. “It’s hard to get up and train when you don’t know when you can play so this event has definitely helped the mindset for the last couple of weeks, knowing something might happen. It’s been a little light at the end of the tunnel.”

–IANS

rkm/bbh