Too dread to win

So, that’s the story: there is a guy (actually not so young, about the tennis at least), who looks like Bob Marley, or most of people love to say; basically just a single dread it’s enough to scream: “rastafari!”. That guy, so funny, had this amazing thought: to win against Nadal at the Wimbledon second turn. And another dream for a long time: to become number 100° in the ATP (not number 1°, but 100°). And he tried to, travelling with his camper, a parents gift, saving some money. Some years ago, always on Wimbledon fields (so generous with talented guys), he showed himself with a spectacular volè dip, and the way he didn’t care to play with his phone during the breaks: thinking about those typically paranoid superstitions in sport world (tennis player are dumbs about the superstition, with lucky dresses, beverage position close to the seat), we definitely have to appreciate a guy like Brown, someone who simply doesn’t matter, screwing up every superstition.

It would have been so nice looking at the Wimbledon managers faces while Dustin Brown first signed up at the London competition first: “Does he have the rasta?”. Long live to Dustin Brown, really. He belongs to those kind of people Who are sincerely and deeply funny, those kind of people who always do what they love or what they are good to. Without any kind of competitive demands or hunger record; no concerns, legal – 8 hours of training – or illegal – playing extraordinarily boring tennis. If we check on youtube writing his name, the most searched word is “crazy” or “insane”.

But it is a raw simplification about the guy and his shots. Brown is that kind of player Who aesthetic and technical shapes are simple to explain, as simple the reasons why his best on the ranking was 78° (42° in the double). He can handle only some matches, but not the whole tennis year; the modern way to play tennis asks for robots, not simple players, he never manages the effort during the match instead – making a jumps in every winning shot, even not necessary just to join with the crowd.

He is 33 years old, in traditional tennis it would be so much, but He has a good physical arrangement that allows him to save his natural play. He uses to make a lot of aces during the match, helping him in physically hard games. Of course, He had his best in Montpellier semi-final 250 master, losing against the wonderful Gasquet’s backhand.

When everything is going well, every single shot gets in and the rival cannot handle a physical decrease with  tough or technical arrogance, Dustin can win the game, as against Nadal – his celebration matches. The inability to go over ten/fifteen shots (God save Dustin, against boring endless matches), drove him to create a Serve and Volley play and aggressive way when He has not the beating. And when you choose a play like that there are no ways to educate your shots – it’s the reason why serve and volley still is the most spectacular way to play tennis. It forces to unpredictability, that makes great the great player and just physically great the athlete.

There is a boundary line between thought shot and the instinctive one (David Foster Wallace perfectly described it). Serve and volley is in that boundary line, show is in that line, great player is in that line. Otherwise is simple athletic self-denial, behavior education – all worthy things, to be clear. But to build an entire match with the deep exchange is something about de Sade Marquis. Of course we don’t want both spectacular and competitive players, just saving those of them Who sometimes drive us to enjoy the funny tennis. Those of them Who stay in that boundary line. Where Dustin Brown stays in right. He has some own shots, those kind of shots that maybe would have make great another player without those hair, hearings or that big tattoo on a side. A kind of guy like that maybe would have been inside top ten, winning one – maybe more – big slam tournament. But Dustin Brown is not like that, and that’s the reason why We love him. Because prize is something champions bring at home, but funny is something We keep as our.