Rafael Nadal was knocked out of Wimbledon in the first week for the third time in four years, bamboozled by the wild but often brilliant game of qualifier Dustin Brown, a man who spent three years living in a camper van as he travelled Europe trying to earn a living. The German hit numerous drop shots, some unbelievable returns and generally kept the 10th seed off balance and out of kilter, clinching a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Remarkably, it was Nadal’s fourth straight Wimbledon loss to an opponent ranked outside the top 100 and, after losing his hold on the French Open title last month, he must now find a way to pick himself up on the North American hard courts later this summer.