News Americas, LONDON, England, Fri. July 3, 2015: Shock and awe were probably some of the words that came to the minds of tennis fans yesterday as a 102-ranked Jamaican-roots players ousted the number 10 seed from Wimbledon 2015.
Dustin ‘@dreddytennis’ Brown, born to a Jamaican father and a German mother in Germany, beat Spain’s Rafael Nadal Thursday, sending the two-time champion home once again early from Wimbledon.
Brown defeated Nadal 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to become the first qualifier in Grand Slam history.
The upset comes on the heels of a disappointing French Open for Nadal, where he relinquished his crown in Paris for the first time since 2009.
Brown broke for the first set in the 12th game when Nadal crumbled on serve. He continued that momentum into the fourth set, breaking Nadal out of the gates and never looking back. He earned two match points in the ninth game of the fourth set that Nadal was able to save, but then closed out the dramatic encounter with astounding serving.
It was Brown’s second win over Nadal in as many tries, having stunned him a year ago in Halle on grass, 6-4, 6-1 at the Wimbledon warm-up event.
“Coming and playing for the first time on Centre Court I had never stepped on this court in my life,” Brown told the BBC after the win. “I thought I would freak out a little bit, but I didn’t. I don’t know if it was Halle [last year], but it felt familiar. It made me feel more comfortable.”
“It’s easy for me to play my game against someone like him because I have nothing to lose,” he said. “I just kept saying, ‘Dustin, just trying to concentrate. Even if you lose this, no one is going to say anything bad.’”
The dread-locked wearing Brown was born on December 8, 1984 in Celle, West Germany to Leroy and Inge Brown. He goes between living in Montego Bay, Jamaica and Germany and is inspired by the late singer Dennis Brown, whom he believes is a relative.
Brown will next play Serbian Viktor Troicki.
