When Dustin Brown takes the court on Wednesday it’ll be one of the few times he won’t have the crowd on his side. The shotmaking German will be facing hometown hero Andy Murray in what could be one of the more entertaining second round matches at Wimbledon. Every time Brown takes the court I see it as must see TV, especially when he’s playing on the grass courts at the All England Club.
It’s no secret that Wimbledon is where Brown plays some of his best tennis. In 2013 Brown reached the 3rd round after qualifying and recorded a win in the 2nd round over former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt. Two years later Brown replicated his success by upsetting another former Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal in a match where Brown just took the racquet out of Nadal’s hands. To have a chance against Andy Murray, he’ll have to play a similar kind of match. After defeating João Sousa on Monday in four sets Brown was asked what he has to do to beat #1 Andy Murray. “‘Either way he’s the favorite. I can be pretty relaxed and try and play my game. If I lose in three sets no one is going to worry. I will just go out there and try my best.” The only time the two have met was at the 2010 US Open where Andy Murray won 7-5 6-3 6-0.
On several occasions Brown has been in matches that looked like they’d be entertaining on paper but didn’t quite live up to the billing. In the first round of the French Open Brown took on Gael Monfils where the result was never in doubt but still produced an array of highlight reel shots that had the fans entertained for three sets.
Andy Murray’s physical condition was a big question mark heading in to his first round match against Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan. Today he answered all of them with an impressive three set victory. Murray likened Brown’s unpredictability to what he saw from Bublik today but also pointed out that Brown likes to get to the net more which will apply some added pressure to him.
Brown has never shy’d away from the big moment at Wimbledon and Wednesday’s match won’t be any different. Beating Andy Murray would top the other great moments for Brown at Wimbledon and he just might be due for another big win. After struggling to find much form throughout this season his ranking has slipped to 97 in the world and looked like the trend would continue today after dropping the first set before turning it around to win quite comfortably. Maybe just what he needed to do the unthinkable on Wednesday.
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