Jamaica's Dustin Brown advanced to the third round of the South Africa Open after beating Frenchman Laurent Recouderc in straight sets at the Montecasino Outdoor Event Area in South Africa yesterday.

Brown, currently the country's highest ranked player at 141st in the ATP ranking, easily got by Laurent 6-4, 6-4 and is expected to face hometown player Izak Van Der Merwe, who defeated France's Ste-phane Robert 7-6, 6-1 in another game yesterday.

The Jamaican opened the tournament with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Switzerland's Marco Chiudinelli in the first round.

High ranking the target

Brown, who has plied his trade in Germany for the last few years, has targeted getting his ranking high enough to play in at least one major tournament this year.

Though not a major, this year's South Africa Open has attracted a few notable players, including Frenchman Gael Monfils, who has secured the number-one ranking, Spain's David Ferrer and Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty.

Last year's edition of the tournament was won by France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a quarter-finalist at this year's Australian Open and one of the game's rising stars. The tournament, which is slated to run until Sunday, February 7, carries a US$442,500 purse for the even-tual men's champion.