Brown thrashes Rafa black & blue

london, July 2

Two-time champion Rafa Nadal crashed out in the second round of Wimbledon on Thursday after being out-muscled and out-thought in four sets by an inspired Dustin Brown of Germany.

The Spaniard, who has slipped down the sport’s pecking order and was seeded 10 after a year of injury and below-par performances, fell 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-4 as world No. 102 Brown unleashed a barrage of thunderous serves and ground strokes, mixed with clever drop shots.

Brown, who had beaten Nadal in the pair’s only other meeting, looked to rush the Spaniard from the start, blasting winners at every opportunity and squeezing Nadal at the net to cut off his options in an unorthodox style that had the Wimbledon crowd in raptures. Qualifier Brown, who sealed victory with a thumping ace, heads into the third round at Wimbledon for the second time, equalling his best Grand Slam performance.

Federer turns on the style

Roger Federer’s effortless stroll through the early stages at Wimbledon continued as he brought out the party tricks in a 6-4 6-2 6-2 victory over Sam Querrey to reach the third round. Once the Swiss had tamed the American’s hefty serve, he cruised through the match, even managing to lob his statuesque opponent with a shot through his legs in the second set. Querrey began with a tenacious effort to peg Federer back, but the Swiss broke in the ninth game of the first set and never looked back. — Reuters

Sania, Martina ease into second round

India’s Sania Mirza and her partner Martina Hingis advanced to the second round with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan and Saisai Zheng of China on Wednesday night. The duo will next take on Kimiko Date-Krumm and Francesca Schiavone. — PTI