Rafael Nadal was shocked by a player outside the top 100 for the fourth year in a row as qualifier Dustin Brown produced a typically maverick performance to upset the former champion. In the match of the tournament so far, Brown outplayed Nadal in the 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-4 win.
Brown begins with a bang
Dustin Brown may not be a household name, but to anyone who is seriously into their tennis, he will be a familar face. Brown, who currently sits at 102nd in the world, has endured a difficult 2015 that has included defeat in the first round of French Open Qualifying. However, the man from Germany is a well-known tennis maverick and from the off he exerted his brand of audacious tennis.
Nadal, meanwhile, has suffered a drastic fall from grace, the former dominant world number one lost in the French Open to Novak Djokovic to finally relinquish his crown and elsewhere has struggled to exert his usual game. Key to this fall has been the drastic decline of the once fearful forehand, which now presents a real point of weakness for the Spaniard.
And throughout the game, this would prove key to his eventual downfall, with several easy balls thrown wide or into the net. Brown could hardly believe his luck. The first set proved a tight affair, and it went all the way to the final few games and Brown maintained his strong serving to open the door. Nadal stepped up to serve at 5-6 down and almost couldn't believe it when Brown brutally punished some weak serves to steal the ascendency and before he could turn things around Brown had sealed the game and with it the set.
Rafa turns the heat up
After a short break and with the crowd recalling defeats to Rosol (2012), Darcis (2013) and Kyrgios (2014), many were wondering if they would see a reprieve from Nadal. In true champion fashion, they did.
Breaking a stricken Brown in his opening game, Nadal grabbed the bull by the horns and began to attack in his classic style. Point after point, the Nadal of old looked to have arrived. Brown seemed flustered, unsure whether to stick or twist.
But he stuck with Nadal, taking the set all the way and forcing his opponent to serve it out.
Brown destroys Nadal
But this momentary lapse would be short-lived as early in the third set, Brown broke to derail the Rafa comeback. A times the tennis coming from the raquet of Brown was delicious. Utilising a wonderful serve-and-volley tactic, he seeked to get to the net at every opportunites, even when facing the thunderous serve of Nadal.
He would go to the net 85 times during the match and win over half of these points. Chip and charge, chip and charge. Brown continually kept Nadal on the backfoot. The Wimbledon crowd didn't know where to turn. Should they cheer their former champion? Or should their support be with this maverick challenger who had had to navigate the qualifiers to secure his first ever appearance on Centre Court?
As he sealed the third set and once again took the lead in the match, this became no clearer.
The Rafa Nadal of old was a mighty warrior. A great champion who would fight every point as if it was his last. But the man of 2015 looks half the man he was. Now down at tenth in the rankings and with only two titles to his name, many still exepcted he would fight back.
But the fightback never came. Instead, early in the fourth set he was broken by Brown, who was now displaying moments of jubilation whilst still playing the same brand of reckless tennis, and had the finish line in sight.
Brown almost throws it away
That very nearly came in the drama of the eighth game, when Nadal was serving to stay in it. Suddenly two match points down, Nadal became involved in a tense rally with Brown who dashed to the net. Nadal stuggled to fling the ball back and as Brown reached it, the ball flew tamely towards him. Extraordinarily, Brown left the ball he thought was going out when he had an easy smash point and as he turned around he saw the ball clip the line.
Nadal served out and as he sat down at his seat during the change of ends, Brown must have been replaying the point through his mind. Stepping up to serve for the biggest win of his career and his second Wimbledon third round appearance, could he hold his nerve?
And he did, rushing to a 40-30 lead before an ace on match point sealed his fate. Jubilant, Brown turned straight away to face his team who had been with him all the way.
'You have to play your A game against him.' He told the BBC. 'I am fortunate I played him twice on grass, which is my favourite surface - I wouldn't want to play him anywhere else.'
Brown outplayed and outfought Nadal from the first ball to the last, and fully deserves his chance against Viktor Troicki in the third round.