Late-blooming Sam Groth has cast sentiment aside to book a dream Wimbledon date with Roger Federer.
Groth beat good friend and Wimbledon village housemate James Duckworth 7-5 6-4 7-6 (8-6) on Thursday before Casey Dellacqua also scored a big win to join Bernard Tomic, Nick Kyrgios and Samantha Stosur in the last 32 at the All England Club.
Dellacqua recovered from 4-1 down in the opening set to upset Ukraine’s 17th seed Elina Svitolina 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 in a magnificent comeback to give Australia five players in the third round for the first time since 1999 – and at any grand slam since 2004.
But Ajla Tomljanovic’s tournament has come to end, the 22-year-old going out 6-0 6-2 to Poland’s 13th-seeded former finalist Agnieszka Radwanska, who next plays Dellacqua on Saturday.
Apart from guaranteeing himself the single biggest pay day of his career – a cheque for at least STG77,000 ($A157,300) – Groth’s victory secured something money can’t buy.
The 27-year-old will likely play Federer on Saturday on tennis’s most hallowed court where the great Swiss has won a record seven titles with a priceless opportunity to make the second week.
“It’s not just playing one of the all-time greats, it’s the fact I’m in the third round at Wimbledon and it’s my second time in the third round of a slam this year,” Groth said.
“In one way it’s a dream come true from where I’ve come from. But at the same time I feel like it’s a match I can definitely win.
“I feel like if I serve well and play aggressive and do what I need to do I can give him some real problems.
“I’m not going to be favourite. I’m going to be the big underdog, but I feel like I can win.”
Duckworth does too.
“With that serve on these kind of courts in these conditions, he’s got a good shot against anyone,” he said.
“He’s going to hold serve a lot of times. He’s probably (going to) take a few blokes to tiebreakers quite a few times and then anything can happen.
“He’s got a chance for sure.”
Groth and Duckworth each gained direct entry to this year’s tournament for the first time and neither had made the second round.
But the experience couldn’t have been more awkward on Thursday, with the pair also sharing the same coach – who was unable to watch on Thursday – and a house in London’s SW19 with Groth’s girlfriend.
They couldn’t share a place in the third round, though, and Groth took the spoils after hammering down 24 aces in what ultimately proved the difference.
Owner of the world’s fastest recorded serve, a 163mph (262.27kmh) missile launched in China in 2012, Groth was broken just once throughout the two-hour, seven-minute encounter and always had Duckworth under the pump.
Groth grabbed the only break of the opening set to go ahead 6-5.
But he had to fend off seven break points in the 12th game before finally clinching the set with an unreturnable delivery on his third set point.
The Victorian charged to a 4-0 lead in the second set, with Duckworth retrieving one break back before Groth closed it out to take a stranglehold on the match.
In a third set of few opportunities for either player, it was Groth who again won the pressure points in the tiebreaker.
Duckworth had a set point on his own serve, but put a backhand half-volley into the net.
Opportunity lost, Duckworth then netted a return as Groth sealed the most important win of his career.
Germany’s Dustin Brown in action against Rafael Nadal. EPA photo
Meanwhile, an unheralded qualifier has pulled off a stunning upset, knocking out Rafael Nadal overnight.
Dustin Brown insists he will remain true to his rasta roots after the dread-locked German qualifier stole the Wimbledon spotlight with the shock victory.
Brown produced an almost flawless display of serve and volley tennis to beat two-time Wimbledon champion Nadal 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-4 and secure just the fourth grand slam win of his career.
The flamboyant 30-year-old’s striking appearance and eye-catching play made him the talk of the All England Club on Thursday.
But beating Nadal in front of a packed crowd on Centre Court was a rare headline-grabbing moment for Brown, a journeyman ranked 102 in the world who has spent much of his career labouring in relative obscurity.
Brown spent three years travelling and living in a VW camper-van purchased by his parents as he drove to tournaments around Europe, often stopping at laundrettes to wash his own clothes and stringing rackets for other players to make extra cash.
Regardless of his sudden burst of fame, Brown, who still can’t afford a coach, has no intention of letting the adulation affect his beliefs and laid-back personality.
“It’s difficult when people ask me about myself because for me it’s normal. I could be sitting here and saying, Why are you guys all different?” he said.
“I’ve been like this. I’m not trying to be a certain way. That is how I am, and always have been.
“Obviously playing this sport, you have to adapt a few things to be able to play the sport.
“But I try not to change myself too much while I’m doing that.
“Obviously it’s great that people appreciate it. But if I would worry too much about what people think then I wouldn’t have the hair and wouldn’t look the way I look.”
Brown has been beaten in the first round of nine tournaments in 2015 and, before arriving at Wimbledon this year, he hadn’t won a grand slam match since making the third round at the All England Club two years ago.
But he never gave up on the dream of having a moment like Thursday’s win and he says beating Nadal in such sublime fashion was the perfect reward for all his years of grinding in anonymity.
“Well, obviously all of that has made me to the person I am, tennis-wise and also as a person and as a character,” he said.
“And I guess all that led to this day today, which is probably the best day of my life so far.”
Brown, making his Centre Court debut, had never beaten a seeded player at a major before, but he felt his aggressive tactics could unnerve the out-of-form Nadal.
Brown, who was born in Germany to a Jamaican father and German mother, changed nationality from Jamaican to German in 2010 after becoming exasperated by a lack of support from the Jamaican tennis federation.
Last year he got a large portrait of his father tattooed on his stomach and he lifted his shirt to show off the etching in recognition of their contribution on a journey that had paid off at last with victory over Nadal.
“I don’t get to see my father that often,” Brown said.
“It’s been a very long road for me and my whole family.
“So that’s one of the things I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time.”
– AAP
