I used to string other people's rackets for 5€, and some slept in my caravan," Brown explains his former life on the lower-tier circuit

© AFP

Clément Gehl

le 29/07/2025 à 11h58

2 min to read

Brown

Now retired from professional tennis, Dustin Brown was a guest on *The Changeover Podcast*, where he shared stories about his early days on the Futures circuit and his unconventional lifestyle.

He said: "At the end of 2002, beginning of 2003, there were Futures tournaments in Jamaica. Then, in 2004, I was ranked around 500th or 600th, and we were trying to figure out how I could keep going and fund everything in Europe.

It wasn’t realistic for me to play my entire career just in Jamaica and maybe a little in the U.S. and Canada. I had to go back to Europe.

My mom came up with the idea of looking for a vehicle. At first, I saw a Volkswagen bus, but it was way too expensive. I ended up going to a Volkswagen dealership, where I found a used caravan.

It was huge and cheaper than the bus. I talked it over with my mom, and they managed to finance it.

Italy and Spain had a lot of Futures tournaments, just like Jamaica. I could play in the same country—I just had to travel from one city to another.

I had a stringing machine, and I also strung other people’s rackets for 5€. The local stringer didn’t get much business (laughs).

I parked my van at the tournament club. My best friend was the club’s maintenance guy because he was the one who gave me access to electricity.

He was the first person I’d go to, asking if I could get power. Nowadays, that wouldn’t be possible anymore.

Back then, I had a 100 or 150-meter-long cable. Maybe two or three times it didn’t work—those were horrible weeks when my computer and stringing machine wouldn’t function.

I had a gas bottle, so I could cook and keep warm. There were also people who slept in my caravan because hotels were expensive.

So I’d tell them, ‘Give me 20 or 30 bucks, and you can crash at my place.’ I had three double beds inside.