He beat Pat Rafter as a junior in all three of their clashes. Now Michael Brown aims to keep his unbeaten run at the Davis Cup going when he leads the SAR's charge against Taiwan in their Asia/Oceania Zone Group Two tie at Victoria Park today.
Brown's Davis Cup debut last year was memorable as he won the opening singles and successfully partnered John Hui to help Hong Kong beat Iran 4-1 before winning both singles matches in the SAR's 3-2 defeat to Lebanon. And he vows to give the SAR a flying start this year by beating Taiwan captain Cheng Weijen in the opening singles today.
'My target is to help Hong Kong gain promotion to Group One,' said Australian Brown, whose credentials include those three wins over Rafter on the junior circuit and a highest ATP ranking of 253rd before he quit professional tennis six years ago.
'No team stands out in this group. If they [Taiwan] are in this group, they're not better than us. We have a good squad. It's the same team we had in Beirut, Lebanon, where we almost beat the hosts,' Brown said.
Lebanon went on to earn promotion to Group One after Taiwan refused to travel to Beirut for the promotion playoff following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
'My main asset is experience. I'll do things these guys are not used to. I'll use my head more. I play more a baseline game but I'll come to the net from time to time,' said 30-year-old Brown, who accepted a coaching post at the Ladies Recreation Club three years ago. But he warned his match against Cheng could be tough. 'I've never seen these guys play but I hear they are good. They play consistently well at the back of the court and don't give you any free points.'
