OMNISPORT

Rafael Nadal suffered yet another early exit at Wimbledon as he was stunned in the second round by qualifier Dustin Brown.

The two-time champion has not gone beyond the fourth round at the All England club since reaching the final in 2011 and was humbled again on Thursday as Brown pulled off a stunning victory.

Brown, ranked 102 in the world, had won the only previous meeting with Nadal in Halle last year and provided the Spaniard with further woe on the grass, claiming a magnificent 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-4 triumph in front of an awestruck Centre Court crowd.

It was a brilliant and at times bewildering exhibition of touch and composure from Brown, who excelled with the volley and drop shot on the way to the biggest win of his career, which sets up a third-round meeting with Viktor Troicki.

For Nadal, seeded a relatively lowly 10th for the championships, the inquest should begin in earnest as the 14-time grand slam champion showed further signs of falling away from Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray at the top of men's tennis.

Nadal made a strong start to the contest as he broke for a 2-1 lead with a brutal backhand pass, only for Brown to produce a response to level at 3-3.

Evidently undaunted by the pressure of the spotlight on his maiden Centre Court appearance, Brown piled the pressure on Nadal in the final game of the first set and claimed a decisive second break with a fierce low backhand.

The world number 10's retort was almost immediate, a backhand down the line giving him the break in the second, which proved to be enough for Nadal to level matters as Brown - having previously saved two set points - lost his touch with the volley and sent one into the net.

But a superb backhand volley saw Brown snatch the break for a 3-2 lead in the third and, although Nadal staved off further break points, he could not prevent the German - who fired down 13 aces and 58 winners - from retaking the lead.

A return into the net from Nadal handed Brown the third set before the former world number one conceded another break in the opening game of the fourth with a wild forehand.

It looked as if Brown's chance may have gone when he let two match points on Nadal's serve slip.

However, Brown - whose booming serve had been a consistent weapon throughout - finished it off in fitting fashion with an ace out wide as Nadal went out of Wimbledon to a man ranked outside the world's top 100 for the fourth year in a row.