Rafael
Nadal was sent crashing out of Wimbledon by dread-locked German qualifier
Dustin Brown on Thursday, his fourth successive humiliation at the All England
Club.
Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, slumped to a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 second round defeat against the world number 102 who hit 13 aces and 58 winners.
It
was the 29-year-old’s first ever defeat to a qualifier at a Grand Slam and came
in the aftermath of losing his French Open crown where he had been champion
nine times.
The
loss followed his 2012 second round exit to world 100 Lukas Rosol, a first
round beating by the 135-ranked Steve Darcis in 2013 and last year’s fourth
round defeat to Nick Kyrgios, who was at 144.
Down
at his lowest ranking for a decade — at 10 in the world — Thursday’s defeat was
yet another symptom of the great Spaniard’s game being in a terminal state of
decline.
For
Brown, who once drove to tournaments in a camper van to save money, it was his
second win against Nadal having won on grass in Halle in 2014.
It
also gave him a third round clash against Serbia’s Viktor Troicki.
“I
had actually never been on Centre Court before,” said Brown.
“They
asked me before the match if I wanted to go on the court. I didn’t know what
was going to happen, so I just said I’ll just go on when I play.
“I
thought I would freak out a little bit but I don’t know if it was the match in
Halle, it felt very familiar. It wasn’t obviously that big of a court but being
on grass, being with him on the court and having won the last match it made me
feel more comfortable.”
He
added: “It’s easy for me to play my game against someone like him because I
have nothing to lose.”
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