Brown's victory an entertaining inspiration

A leaping backhand across court, a booming serve and then an ace: Dustin Brown's finish against Rafa Nadal was spectacular, and the epitome of his entire Centre Court performance on Thursday - undoubtedly the best of his career.

Brown's victory was not one of an emerging star. The 30-year-old has battled his way through a tough career, even living in a camper van for three years in an attempt to make ends meet. Accompanied by his flowing dreadlocks, Brown was full of energy, passion and smiles on the court. It was like watching a teenager playing his favorite sport, unable to contain his excitement and growing in belief with every point. For all of his youthful exuberance, Brown's brutal serve-and-volley style harked back to an older era of tennis before rackets were made of carbon fiber and selfies wasn't a word. Of the remarkable 99 serve and volley points Brown attempted, he won 71. He suffocated Nadal's power by constantly biting away at it with short bursts of energy. Like a wasp that Nadal couldn't get rid of, Brown hung around long enough to turn pestering into victory.

As with most sporting sensations, there is of course a sad side to the story. Rafa Nadal appears to be on the downward slope of his brilliant career. The 14-time Grand Slam winner showed flashes of his supreme quality, but the defeat to Brown is not the upset in recent years. For the first time since 2005, when he first won, the Spaniard looks set to end the season without a Grand Slam title.

Brown, ranked 102 in the world, is by no means on his way towards winning his first Grand Slam - a tricky tie against Serbia's Viktor Troicki awaits - but his achievement deserves to due recognition. The man has never ranked higher than 78, only first took part in a Grand Slam in 2010 and graced the grass of Centre Court for the first time on Thursday. Brown is plagued by the defining trait that separates the greats from the rest - consistency. Last year, he lost in the first round of all the Grand Slams apart from the Australian Open - where he lost in the first round of qualifying.

Caught off guard by Brown's success and perhaps even thankful that they had something positive to discuss on the men's side of the draw, the German media sprung into action at the sight of a sporting success that wasn't football related. And rightly so. Brown may lose in the next round, rendering his win "just another upset." For Brown it won't ever just be that, nor should it be for Germany. As tennis legend John McEnroe said after the game, Brown's performance will have inspired hundreds to pick up a racket - and this from perhaps the most unlikely of sources. Winning titles makes heroes, but in individual sport success that ends without silverware sometimes deserves recognition.

13 years older and five, long wins away from Boris Becker's famous Wimbledon title, Brown is not Germany's new tennis star, but on Thursday he became the country's new inspiration.