Wimbledon is a great place for people to grab their 15 minutes of fame; the perfect venue to hog the spotlight for a fleeting moment, often never to be seen again. Many who have snatched their opportunity have been home players pushing a bigger name close, or occasionally even beating them. But yesterday, the man attracting most of the attention was a dreadlocked Jamaican, born in Germany, who may or may not be eligible to play Davis Cup for Britain one day.
At 25, Dustin Brown was playing in the main draw of a grand-slam event for the first time – a far cry from his days spent on the lower levels of the tour where he often had to live in a camper van and was reduced to snatching the odd complimentary meal at tournaments.
The first Jamaican to play at Wimbledon in 40 years, his experience among the glitterati was relatively brief, but he showed enough in the one hour, 48 minutes that he was on court against the Austrian No16 seed, Jürgen Melzer, to suggest he may get another crack at Wimbledon and the other grand-slam events in the future.
In the end, Melzer proved far too experienced for the raw Brown and clinched a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory. But the crowd crammed into Court No18 – which at one stage included British No2 Alex Bogdanovic – were clearly enjoying themselves, with one "Dustin wins" flag waved every time he unleashed an enormous forehand or drop‑shot winner.
The 105-ranked Brown's game is built around a massive first serve, behind which he likes to attack the net whenever he can. A viciously whipped slice is the pick of the rest of his unique, wildly unorthodox repertoire. He has his idiosyncrasies, too, always demanding a particular ball back from the ball-boys and -girls if he has hit a winning shot. His shot selection may be questionable, but that will improve with matches at this level.
The presence of Bogdanovic in the crowd was intriguing, to say the least. The British No2, smarting from having his funding cut by the LTA, has decided not to play in next month's Davis Cup relegation tie against Turkey – a match Britain need to win to avoid falling to the bottom rung of the competition. With world No4 Andy Murray also absent, Britain will be left with Jamie Baker and James Ward, both ranked outside the top 250, which perhaps explains some of the noises surrounding Brown and his family tree.
To be eligible to play for Britain, Brown has to either have a British passport or have lived in the UK for at least two years. At the moment, he does not qualify on either front; however, reports of a British paternal grandparent means it is a possibility – but only if the LTA come knocking. So far there has been no contact, but Brown admits he would listen to any approach. "I would say that something has to happen from the LTA," he said. "If they're interested, then they have to step towards me, because just changing my nationality now and getting a British passport is not going to solve the problem.
"I've played for Jamaica all my life and I'm actually pretty happy to play with Jamaica. Going to a tournament and seeing the Jamaican flag, it's there for me and not for another 20 guys. That's definitely a nice thing. If the LTA would definitely offer me things that would help me improve my game, then obviously that's one of the things I would have to look at. Not because I don't want to play for Jamaica anymore. I just have to try to further my career. Anything that would help me definitely is worth listening to and looking at."
The 25-year-old's disillusionment with the Jamaican tennis federation, who he says has not backed him enough during his career, reached a nadir just before Wimbledon when it sent an email congratulating him on his wild-card entry. In fact, Brown got into the draw on merit.
"I've worked really hard and been struggling through and I get in on a direct entry, don't have to go through qualifying, and then you get an email like that from the president. It's like, what are you guys doing at work? Sitting down, doing nothing. If the president doesn't know what the No1 player is doing, he doesn't care."
