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The untroubled advance of the heavy hitters at Wimbledon was spectacularly halted on Thursday when twice champion Rafa Nadal was bundled out by German qualifier Dustin Brown who played the match of his life.
Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Petra Kvitova all cruised into the third round with straight-sets victories as the tournament meandered serenely through its fourth balmy day.
But the calm was shattered by the final match on Centre Court when Brown, a man until now best known for his unconventional approach and dread-locks, brought back memories of the golden summer Wimbledon evenings of wooden rackets as he combined relentless power with brave and ambitious creativity.
'I'm fortunate I played him twice on grass'
Brown came out swinging and even when Nadal dug deep to level the match at one set all he did not hold back, going for his shots and harrying his illustrious opponent at every opportunity.
Along with the power there was finesse which had the Centre Court crowd roaring their approval and Brown rattled through the final set to secure a fully deserved victory.
"You have to play your A game against him," said Brown, who also beat Nadal in their only previous meeting in Halle last year.
"I'm fortunate I played him twice on grass, which is my favourite surface -- I wouldn't want to play him anywhere else. My game makes him not play his game. He doesn't get in a rhythm."
'I've played on the last day here five days and had the trophy back home twice'
Defeat continued Nadal's wretched run at Wimbledon since he lost the 2011 final to Novak Djokovic.
In successive years he has lost to players ranked 100, 135, 144 and now 102 without getting past the fourth round -- a stunning decline for the 14-times grand slam winner who triumphed at Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010 and has been runner-up three times.
"My motivation is to be back to that level but I don't know if I can," 10th seed Nadal said.
"But I've played on the last day here five days and had the trophy back home twice, so it's not bad."
