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German unknown beats Hewitt at Wimbledon

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German unknown beats Hewitt at Wimbledon
Photo: DPA

A German tennis unknown sent Lleyton Hewitt home from Wimbledon on Wednesday after beating the former champion in three sets to one, to push through to the third round.

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Dustin Brown admitted afterwards, "I cried like a little girl," following his win, during which he had hit 21 aces.

The 28-year-old professional from near Celle, Lower Saxony, made it through to the third round of the world's most famous grass tennis competition after 2 hours and 26 minutes against former victor Hewitt.

"It was a great match, it is a fantastic day," said Brown. "Even during the match I said: Dustin, no matter what happens today, today I'm going to win. Today is your day."

The half-German, half-Jamaican, had entered the tournament ranked 189 in the world. Born in Celle in 1984 to a German-Jamaican couple, he moved aged 12 to Jamaica, where he still lives.

He has been playing professional tennis since 2002, often touring Europe in a campervan, until in 2010 he asserted his German citizenship, and entered the German tennis system. Early this year he travelled to Argentina as a reserve on the Davis Cup team.

After his spectacular win in London on Wednesday, and the continuing poor performance by British players, Brown is being mourned as the British player who never was.

The Guardian newspaper wrote that he could have played for the UK due to his grandmother's roots - and that Brown had even said three years ago that he would be open to the idea of representing Britain.

But he never made a formal approach to the Lawn Tennis Association, the paper said, and after leaving the Jamaican Tennis Federation due to a lack of funding, he opted to play for Germany.

The Local/DPA/hc

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