Brown set to thrill at Tryall Tennis Classic

Highly celebrated Jamaica-connected tennis professional Dustin Brown is set to take the court along with other popular stars in western Jamaica today, when the renowned Tryall Club host the thrilling Tryall Thanksgiving Tennis Classic.

This year's event is aimed at strengthening the club's legacy as it relates to the development of tennis among youth in western Jamaica.

"We are committed to the development of youth here at Tryall. Having Dustin perform at this year's match is a special honour, as many of his formative training years were spent here at the Tryall Club," remarked Richard Ferdinand, director of guest services at the Tryall Club.

Among the stars set to shine in the exhibition matches are Jan-Michael Charles Gambill, who has a career high WTA ranking of number 14, Michael Russell who has played 115 Main Draw Singles ATP events, Arantxa Parra Santonja a member of the 2012 London Olympic team who has ranked 46 at her highest career singles title and Irina Falconi who had her highest WTA ranking at number 63.

VARIOUS ACTIVITIES

The players will also be participating in a series of activities ranging from tennis clinics to exhibition matches.

Brown, popularly known as Dreddy, is a Jamaican-German tennis player. As a youngster, he trained in Jamaica and benefited from Tryall's tennis programme. He rose to fame after beating Rafael Nadal in the 2014 Halle Open and Wimbledon 2015, and is known for his aggressive and flashy playing style. Brown competes mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour, both in singles and doubles. He reached his highest ATP singles ranking of world No. 64 in October 2016.

The day's events will get underway with a clinic where tennis students will get a chance to meet and participate in exercises with the pros. The highlight of the day, however, will be the tennis classic which begins at 4 p.m. These matches will feature men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles matches and promise to be highly exciting.

The Tryall Club has had a long and rich history in the growth of junior tennis in western Jamaica.

Its annual summer programme has contributed to the early career of the likes of Winfried Weinbeer and Dustin Brown. In 2012, the Tryall Club in partnership with the National Commercial Bank, hosted Venus and Serena Williams who participated in a tennis clinic for about 50 students.