WIMBLEDON, England — With no Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon this year, one had to settle on Friday for a match on Court 2 between two men who have upset Nadal at Wimbledon.
Not that Nick Kyrgios versus Dustin Brown was tennis to which Nadal could easily relate. For Nadal, a point is a prize to be earned with hard labor: meticulously, ponderously considered, with his shorts-picking and face-wiping before each serve, and then fiercely contested with all the corner-to-corner sweat and hustle a supreme baseliner and competitor can muster.