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| Qualifier Dustin Brown defeated Lleyton Hewitt in 2 hours 26 minutes |
The first
three days at Wimbledon have revealed the strength in depth of men’s tennis.
After 135-ranked Steve Darcis emerged victorious over the French Open champion Rafael
Nadal, 189-ranked qualifier Dustin Brown fearlessly defeated the 2002 Wimbledon
champion Lleyton Hewitt 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-2 on day three at The Championships.
Brown
took David Ferrer to three sets in Doha this year but is an unknown entity, having
mainly played challenger tournaments. Victory today and passage into the third
round has earned him around a tenth of his total career
earnings.
The 6ft 5in 28 year-old giant sported long brown dreadlocks that followed him
around the court. Along with his sleeveless top, relaxed free-hitting style, and
experience of living out of a camper van, Brown would not look out of place if
his tennis racket was exchanged for a surf board. The match against Lleyton
Hewitt was only his fourteenth on a grass court, and only his eighth main draw
singles grand slam match. After today’s heroics his twitter account (aptly
named @DreddyTennis) will surely see a surge in his 8,600 strong group of
followers.
The match
began with the familiar yellow and green clad Hewitt entourage dominating the sound
from the crowd in a half-full Court 2, but Brown’s scintillating performance in
the first set – which had been relayed to the rest of Wimbledon via the big
screens – soon filled the arena with fans both intrigued by this unknown’s unorthodox
style and eager to witness Hewitt’s usual response of grit and determination in
the face of adversity.
Qualifying
for Wimbledon and winning his first round all without losing a set seems to
have ignited a fire of bravery and enthusiasm in Brown, who refused to let
Hewitt get into any kind of rhythm in the first set. Lashing forehand returns
and surprising drop shots, Hewitt never knew what was coming next. There were
plenty of misses, too, but these never seemed to dampen his fiery enjoyment of
the game, as he so often answered an unforced error by marching back to the
baseline, quickly turning, bouncing the ball once or twice, and
matter-of-factly serve and volleying out the next point. The aggression that bred
errors also created enough winners to more than compensate, whereas Hewitt’s
errors were the sign of a man confused.
At 2-2 in
the first set, Brown approached the net after serving in what would become his
principal line of attack. After Hewitt reached Brown’s volley and sent a lob
looping towards the base line, Brown chased after it, dreadlocks and all, and
upon reaching the bouncing ball, in one movement jumped, swerved his body
around the ball and wrapped his racket round it, sending a fierce passing shot
down the line, leaving Hewitt stumped at the net.
This match
was supposed to be all about Hewitt; the former champion battling injury and
the relentless passing of time in a bid for one more match, one more
tournament, one more year in his glittering career. But Dustin Brown displayed from the first all
the classic traits of a crowd favourite. As well as being an underdog, he showed his passion with fist pumping and
jumping after the big points. He made effective use of the much missed serve and volley, provided the
excitement of countless half-volleys and drop shots, and exercised the superstition of
re-using the winning ball reminiscent of 2001 champion Goran Ivanišević.
Hewitt
continually directed his second serves towards Brown’s canon forehand in the
second set, seemingly expecting the qualifier’s luck or nerve to waver. But it
did not, as Brown wrapped up the second set 6-4 in an enthralling relentless style. By the early stages of the third set Brown had delivered more than twice as many winners than Hewitt.
Two drop
shot volleys in a row at 3-3 in the third set sent the crowd ooh-ing and aah-ing
as Brown exhibited the deft touch that belied talent far greater than his 189
ranking would have led Hewitt to believe. There was no sense of fatigue in the
crowd. They had been treated to two and a half sets of exciting tennis in
little over an hour and a half. By this time the chanting Aussies seemed
outnumbered, out cheered, and out clapped.
Brown has
the same likability as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, refusing to bow to percentage play
and moving spectators to the edges of their seats, all with the smile of one
who loves sharing his craft with the world. Such charisma seemed to take its
toll on Hewitt, who double faulted for the fourth time when serving at 3-4 in
the third set. Even a chant of ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie, oi oi oi’ could not
subdue Brown’s confidence. The only problem was that the viewers at home were
often denied a chance to see Brown’s acrobatics in a slow motion replay in
order to keep up with his speedy service games.
Hewitt
defiantly held to make it 5-5 in the third set and then took the first two
points of Brown’s next service game – perhaps the comeback the Aussie
contingent had been waiting for? But Brown responded in mesmerising style with
his nineteenth ace of the game and then yet another deft volley to snuff out
the danger, going on to hold. So many times Brown seemed to barely move,
waiting for a ball that he would casually dispatch into the corner with a flick
of the wrist that produced such power. As well as moving Hewitt side to side,
Brown made sure the Aussie covered every blade of grass on the court,
continually tempting him forward with drop shots and – if Hewitt managed to get
it back over the net – forcing him to back pedal furiously in pursuit of a cheeky
lob.
Hewitt
lived up to his reputation and continued to battle away, forcing a third set
tie break in which he smelt blood, pulling 5-3 ahead. Brown’s volleying
deteriorated for a moment and the Australian took full advantage of this
momentary lapse, taking five points in a row to set up three set points, of
which only one was required. Hewitt had plugged and plugged away against an
enigma he could not control. His only answer was to stay in the match as long
as possible in the hope that Brown’s form dipped. Being able to maintain such
effort against a player possessed is what makes Hewitt loved by the British
crowds. This match was not, then, all about Dustin Brown. Only a keen eye could
pick out the empty seats now.
The longest
rally up to this point had been just 12 shots, reflecting the refreshing and
pulsating pace of the match. Countless times he powerfully returned a Hewitt
serve and followed his shot, rushing into the net ready to kill the point with
soft hands and brilliant vision. Such beautiful play brought him a break early
in the fourth set to give him a 2-1 lead with a service game to come. By the
start of this game Brown had amassed 21 volley winners to Hewitt’s four, and
began the next game with another.
Although Brown played low percentage shots, his
overall game plan worked. As soon as the rally threatened to become suited to
Hewitt’s counter punch style, he played a drop shot or a slice, changing up the
pace of the game to shorten the points and prevent Hewitt from getting his foot
in the door psychologically. Failing that, countless deep hard returns had
Hewitt scampering back on his heels in an attempt to dig out a return. Hewitt was
constantly a man under fire. Such aggression meant that Brown lost many
individual points trying to play difficult drop shots or clean winners from the
baseline, but it reflected a general tactic which proved extremely successful,
taking him to 5-1 in the fourth set against a helpless Hewitt.
Even at
this stage Brown was tossing and swirling his racket around and blasting
speculative returns as if he was in a practice session. Hewitt held, forcing
Brown to serve out the match at 5-2. What made Brown captivating to watch was that right to the end his
character oozed beautifully from his tennis. He was not loud, rarely shouted in
victory and never argued with the umpire. He revealed his personality purely
through his exciting, unpredictable ideas that had Hewitt second guessing until
the last point.
On sealing
the match he threw his racket down and broke into a relaxed smile that quickly
revealed a wobbly lip. Soon enough a tear or two were on the way, as he covered
his face with his towel and left court 2. “It’s gonna take a while to sink in”
said Brown with his likeable Jamaican drawl in his post match interview. Admitting
that he is not the type of guy to cry, he revealed that he had watched Hewitt play
tennis while growing up and found it tough to come back after losing the third
set tie break. Hewitt’s Aussie followers, on the other hand, did not seem to
weigh Brown down: “That’s what the sport’s about”. His whole approach to the
match was summed up perfectly when he confessed that “All I can do is play my
best tennis and see what happens” and provided a warning for his next opponent:
“Whoever comes they gotta beat me in my type of game not the way they want to
play”.
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