Wimbledon 2015: Writers Awards – Biggest Upset

2. <p><strong>Rafael Nadal</strong> may well have made premature exits at Wimbledon in 2012, 2013 and 2014 to players all ranked outside of the top 100 in the world, but that didn’t make his loss to <strong>Dustin Brown</strong> in the second round of this year’s tournament at the All England Club any less surprising.</p> <p>Every year it is mentioned that the Spaniard has been sent packing early doors to previously unheralded opponents, but no one ever seriously banks on it happening again, but this was exactly the case when Dustin Brown emerged onto Centre Court alongside the two-time winner at SW19.</p> <p>Playing with the freedom of a junior down the park for the first time in his life, the German took the set in wonderfully entertaining fashion, but surely this was only a blip? So it seemed when Nadal leveled matters at one set apiece.</p> <p>Eyebrows slowly raised as Brown’s ridiculously kamikaze tactics saw him go a set up once more, and the headline writers were at the ready when the man with the dreadlocks went up an early break in the fourth.</p> <p>There was a brief moment when the German’s nerves betrayed him as he wasted two match points on his esteemed opponents’ serve before starting his own service game to see out the match with a double fault.</p> <p>However, as he had all afternoon, he simply played his way through the nerves and finished a truly memorable, and quite unbelievable, victory with an ace out wide.</p> <p> </p>. Writer. Lob and Smash. STEVE NICHOLLS