LONDON (Reuters) – Dreadlocked German Dustin Brown will have the chance to follow up last year’s Wimbledon heroics after being handed a wildcard for the championships on Wednesday.
Brown, ranked 87th in the world, provided the shock of the tournament 12 months ago when he came through qualifying before overwhelming twice former champion Rafael Nadal in the second round with a scintillating display of attacking tennis. The 31-year-old posted a photograph of himself celebrating on his Twitter account @DreddyTennis and expressed his thanks to tournament organizers.
Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, 37, has also been handed one of the Wimbledon wildcards.
The former world number four came within two points of knocking eventual finalist Andy Murray out of the French Open in the first round.
Slovakia’s former top-10 player Daniela Hantuchova and Britain’s former junior champion Laura Robson received wildcards into the women’s main draw.
Wimbledon begins on June 27.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Reuters
