102nd-Ranked Player Has Nadal's Number

Dustin Brown stands 6 feet 5 inches, with dreadlocks about half that long, and is listed at a lithe 172 pounds. He has a large tattoo of his father over his left rib cage, has rings in his ears and speaks English with a German-Caribbean accent.(Brown True to his Roots)

He grew up in Germany and Jamaica, with parents from each of those countries, spent several years living in a camper van and driving around Europe to play tournaments, and used to string other players' rackets for extra cash.(Brown Reveals Nadal Win Was Centre Court Debut)

All of that sounds unusual to some, especially at a staid tennis establishment like Wimbledon. But to Brown, whose Twitter handle is DreddyTennis, there is nothing at all strange about his appearance or life experiences.(Nadal Crashes Out in Round 2)

"It's difficult for me when people ask me about myself because for me it is normal," Brown, 30, said to a roomful of reporters. "I could be sitting here and saying, 'Why are you guys all different?'"

What is a little different is that Brown, ranked No. 102, has found a knack for beating Rafael Nadal, which he did on Thursday for the second time in two opportunities.

This time it was on Centre Court at Wimbledon, and after his 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Nadal, the No. 10 seed, he bounced around the grounds from one interview to another, with his dreadlocks in a cap and a modified Superman logo on his T-shirt, and accepted cheers and hugs from fans and fellow players, like Gael Monfils.

John McEnroe, the former No. 1-ranked player who is an analyst for the BBC, said it was one of the finest performances he had seen by a low-ranked player on Centre Court.

Told of McEnroe's comments, Brown said: "It's a great feeling for him to say that, obviously, from the generation that was playing serve and volley, coming to the net a lot. It was great to be able to do that today, and do it for that long."

Grass is Brown's favorite surface, and he beat Nadal on it last year in Halle, Germany. He defeated another former Wimbledon champion, Lleyton Hewitt, in the second round here in 2013, which at the time was probably the best win of his life.

Brown was born in Celle, West Germany, in 1984, the son of a Jamaican father and a German mother. In 1996 the family moved to Jamaica, where Dustin played tennis with friends on local outdoor courts.

But the tennis world was passing him by, so in 2004 he moved back to Germany and began his extended van tour.

He said he speaks very traditional German - typical of his part of the country - and he is strict about punctuality, which he considers a distinctly German trait. His otherwise relaxed demeanor, he says, represents his Jamaican side.

Brown offers rapid-fire and piercing insights into a wide range of topics, from tennis tactics to the racist encounters he has experienced in Germany, and, he says, he still does.

"Obviously, all of that has made me to the person I am tenniswise and also as a person and as a character," he said. "And I guess all that led to this day today, which is obviously a great day. Probably the best day of my life so far."