One of the most exciting and popular players on tour, Dustin Brown will certainly be a huge draw at Wimbledon, clearly shown by the choice for the All England Club to hand him a wild card.
Whilst there is only an extremely small chance that he will make the title, it will be interesting to see how the German does at his strongest major.
Notable results so far
Perhaps Brown’s biggest achievement to date in 2016 was making the French Open draw for only the third time in his career. He beat fellow German Daniel Brands in the final round of qualifying, and for the first time in his career won a match at Roland Garros, beating Dudi Sela.
Another big moment was at the Open Sud de France, where he made his first ATP semifinal after eight previous losses in quarterfinals.
There have been some low points for Brown though. He lost in the first round of qualifying at the Australian Open, whilst he under-performed at some of the Challengers before the grass season.
Best grass results leading to Wimbledon
Brown started his season at the Manchester Challenger, where he impressed as he took his first title of the year as an unseeded player. The German beat the likes of Rajeev Ram and James Ward before beating Yen-Hsun Lu in the final.
He then moved onto the Challenger in Surbiton in South London, where he reached the last eight before falling to Jordan Thompson in straight sets. Following that, he went to play in his home country, at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle. He started with a straight sets win over clay-court specialist Albert Ramos-Vinolas but then lost to Marcos Baghdatis.
Overall, it was a pretty solid preparation for Wimbledon, and he will be feeling fairly confident heading into the third Grand Slam of the year.
Best result at Wimbledon
Brown has twice reached the third round at Wimbledon, with both runs attracting considerable attention due to some of his wins.
His first run to the third round came back in 2013, where he qualified for the tournament for only the third time. His first round win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who he beat in straight sets, was his first win at the All England Club, though it was his second-round win over former champion Lleyton Hewitt that really brought him to the attention of tennis fans. He lost in the third round to Adrian Mannarino in straight sets.
He made the third round again last year, coming through qualifying and beating Yen-Hsun Lu in the first round. He then recorded the most famous win of his career, beating Rafael Nadal on grass for the second time, taking the Spaniard out in four sets on Centre Court. However, just like 2013, he lost in the next round, this time being defeated by Viktor Troicki in four sets.
How Brown’s game translates to the surface
The style in which Brown plays is pretty unique in modern tennis (one of the reasons why he is so popular on the tour) and there is no doubt that his style does help him grass.
The German has a huge serve, which not only wins him many points outright but also helps him dictate play early on. This is a particular advantage on grass, where the extra speed makes his serve even more tricky to face.
Furthermore, Brown is also extremely eager to approach the net and volley, allowing him to kill off points early and take rhythm away from his opponents; he did this well in both his wins over Nadal on the surface.