Source: Ian Walton / Getty
Today, tennis fans were all asking the same question: who is the guy with dreadlocks that beat Rafael Nadal? We have some answers for you.
Dustin Brown, a German tennis player with dual citizenship in Jamaica, pulled off the biggest upset of Wimbledon by defeating Nadal 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Brown’s Spanish opponent looked uncharacteristically out of it, and the 30-year old-player with dreads took advantage of that to get the largest win of his career. It was his first time on the main court there, and he ate up the big stage in spectacular fashion. ESPN’s Darren Roval tweeted that Brown was making $120,000 a year, and he is guaranteed that much now for winning today.
What about the journey for Brown to get there? Here are a few facts about him:
He got into Wimbledon on a wild card
Because of Brown’s low rank, he had to compete in a qualifying tournament to get into Wimbledon. He previously made it to the third round in 2013, and has never went beyond that in the other grand slams. Brown’s highest ranking was 78th in the world, which he held last year. He also competes in doubles, where he has won a few smaller tournaments.
He previously traveled to tournaments in his own van
When he was working his way up the tennis ladder, his parents brought him a van as the Jamaican tennis federation was not giving him much money to play. He sometimes lived out of his Volkswagen between tournaments in Europe, using it to save on costs. In a story from the New York Times, Brown described how he would get by on earnings from tournaments and sometimes eating pasta for weeks. He would also string rackets for other players to make money on the side.
He represented Jamaica until 2010
When Brown moved to Jamaica to live with his father, he gained citizenship there and represented the country in tennis. He represented them in the Davis Cup, a tournament where the best players of a nation compete as a group against other countries, like the World Cup in soccer. When the country didn’t give him enough support to play, he left in 2010 to represent Germany. He was the highest-ranked Jamaican player in the sport, and according to the Guardian was the first to achieve that feat in over four decades.
Brown is one of a few players to beat Nadal more than once
Nadal, often called the king of the clay, has dominated the sport for the last decade. But in the last few years he has not been at his best, and has become hampered by injuries lately. Brown previously defeated Nadal at a tournament in Germany last year, and some experts saw him pulling this upset again. With Brown playing a net game and inventing strategies and shots on the fly, he prevented Nadal from finding his rhythm.
Brown is pretty tall at 6 feet, 5 inches
The images of Brown are deceiving: he is one of the tallest tennis players out there. And what about those dreads? According to an interview with TennisNow.com, he started growing them in 1996. He also sports a stomach tattoo, which is supposedly of his father, Leroy Brown.
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Who Is Dustin Brown, The Jamaican-German Tennis Player Who Beat Rafael Nadal? was originally published on theurbandaily.com
