MELBOURNE, Australia – There have been a couple of scary incidents on court so far this Australian Open involving family members of players.
But the latest news is a tragic death, a member of the tennis family who was a associate producer with the ESPN crew.
Brown leaves wife Erinn Roos and two-year-old son Henry behind. By several accounts from colleagues, he was genuinely the nicest man you could ever meet, with the best smile, and an employee willing to anything asked of him, no matter what.
Brown’s tragic death follows in the wake of a health scare for Ana Ivanovic coach Nigel Sears, who also is the father-in-law of Andy Murray and the grandfather to his soon-to-be-born child.
Sears was taken to hospital in the middle of Ivanovic’s match on Rod Laver Arena against Madison Keys, but was pronounced fit enough to head back to the U.K. within a day or two.
Then, during Aussie Lleyton Hewitt’s final professional match, a doubles match with countryman Sam Groth against the Can-American team of Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock, Groth’s mother was in distress near the end of the match, also resulting in a significant stoppage in play during the match while she was attended to.
Those two incidents, though, pale in comparison to Brown, and his young family.
Condolences to them. That’s a tough one, being all the way on the other side of the world.
(Pic from Brown’s Facebook page)