Second-round serenade: Brown’s thrills, Nadal’s spills

Rafael Nadal is alarmingly accustomed to early exits at Wimbledon. Dustin Brown is a human highlight film in the early rounds at Wimbledon.

Both players will be on display during second-round action at the All-England Club on Wednesday, but this time they are not required to go head-to-head. Included in Brown’s vast second-round history at the annual third Grand Slam is a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 upset of Nadal in 2015.

The dreadlocks-sporting German reached the third round twice in his previous four appearances, also ousting Lleyton Hewitt in 2013. He came within a set of advancing to the last 32 in 2016 but dropped a five-setter to Nick Kyrgios.

Now, Brown gets one of the toughest Wimbledon opponents of all in world No. 1 and defending champion Andy Murray. The 32-year-old booked a spot in that showdown by coming back from a set and a break down to beat Joao Sousa in four sets, while Murray rolled over lucky loser Alexander Bublik on Monday.

“He plays a similar way (compared to Bublik) in terms of being pretty unpredictable–going for different shots,” Murray said of Brown. “A lot of power. Certainly to watch, for anyone watching, he tends to come out with some great shots. Very entertaining guy to watch. He’s a great mover. Really, really good athlete. He’s a good personality, as well. Always fun, fun guy to watch.  I expect him to be very aggressive. I think he’ll go for his shots. I think he’ll come forward a lot. You know he’s going to go for it…. Sometimes he hits two first serves; goes for a huge second serve. It’s not easy to play players like that. He’s obviously had a big win here in the past against Rafa.”

“It’s an honor playing against him,” Brown commented. “I think last time we played was U.S. Open 2010. He won in three sets. We’ll see what happens out there this time.”

Will this time be different?

“Seven years and it wasn’t grass,” Brown said with a smile.

It’s been seven years since Nadal last won Wimbledon and six since he last reached the final. In his four trips to the All-England Club preceding this one, the Spaniard compiled a dreadful 5-4 record with losses to Brown (second round), Lukas Rosol (second round), Steve Darcis (first round), and Nick Kyrgios (fourth round).

“[I’m] happy because I didn’t win a lot of matches last couple of years here in Wimbledon,” Nadal admitted following his 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 rout of John Millman on Monday.

Can the reigning French Open champion avoid the second-round upset bug in his first Wimbledon appearance since 2015? Nadal, who missed last year’s festivities because of a wrist injury, has a date with fellow left-hander Donald Young on Wednesday. Young is 18-12 this season and is coming off consecutive grass-court quarterfinal showings at Queen’s Club and in Eastbourne.

“He’s an aggressive player,” Nadal assessed. “He’s a player that plays quick; hits the ball so quick. Sometimes he’s able to play at a very, very high level.”

Young may have to play at a level even better than “very, very high” if he wants to upset Nadal. After all, this is a world No. 2 who is simply no longer as vulnerable as he was at Wimbledon from 2012 through 2015. As his 44-6 record this season suggests, he is armed with a clean bill of health. And he is also stomping around on grass courts that Brown has argued are playing even slower than the red clay of Roland Garros.

But Nadal certainly isn’t buying that.

“(It) is obvious that if we compare the speed of playing here or playing [at] Roland Garros, [it] is not a discussion. “(It) is stupid talking about that because (it) is obvious that (the French Open vs. Wimbledon) is completely different sport.”

So different that Brown has a chance to beat Murray and Young has a legitimate shot at Nadal? Well, maybe not.

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