Dustin Brown becomes first Jamaican to win ATP doubles crown

Jamaica's Dustin Brown teamed up with Dutchman Rogier Wassen to capture the Open de Moselle in Metz, France on Sunday, following a 6-3, 6-3 victory over No.2 seeds Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares, completing a historic ATP World Tour debut.

The Jamaican, who has also made his mark on the singles circuit this year, making his way to the second round of this year's US Open before being knocked out by Britain's Andy Murray, was pleased with his first title at the ATP level, which is also a first-time achievement for a Jamaican tennis player.

"I am so happy, this is my first ATP-level title. It feels great," Brown was quoted as saying on the ATP tour website www.atpworldtour.com.

"I am happy I was able to convince Rogier to come as we were the first alternate team. He was home, three hours away, wanting to take some time off and I managed to convince him. We recently won two Challengers so we had confidence and I must say we played good all week," Brown explained.

Strong results

The pair has earned a series of strong results in four ATP Challenger Tour events this season, winning two titles, including the Pekao Szczecin Open in Poland two weeks ago.

That good form carried over into their first ATP World Tour outing and since losing the opening set in their first-round match, they won six consecutive sets before lifting the title.

Unseeded, the pair broke Melo and Soares in the third and ninth games on their way to securing a one-set advantage with a comfortable win.

Brown and Wassen then raced to a 5-0 lead in the second set. However, Melo and Soares got a break back to cut the lead to 3-5, but Brown did not falter as he held serve at love to seal the win.

The 25-year-old Brown was contesting his first ATP World Tour final, while Wassen, 34, won his fifth ATP World Tour doubles title, from 10 finals. It was Wassen's first title since July 2008.

For their efforts the pair were rewarded with 250 ATP World Tour ranking points and £21,650, while runners-up Melo and Soares received 150 ranking points and shared £11,360 in prize money.