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The Latest: At 30, Brown shows he can beat world’s best

Jul 2, 2015, 2:36 PM

Spectators on No. 1 Court watch the match between Milos Raonic of Canada and Tommy Haas of Germany ...

Spectators on No. 1 Court watch the match between Milos Raonic of Canada and Tommy Haas of Germany at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Wednesday July 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

(AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

LONDON (AP) — The latest from Wimbledon (all times local):

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9:50 p.m.

The way Dustin Brown played against Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, it’s a wonder the 30-year-old German hasn’t had a big breakthrough earlier in his career.

According to Brown himself, it’s just a matter of being inconsistent.

The 102nd-ranked Brown says “it took a while for me to learn to know that I can win a match like this on a given day, but I can also play a shocking match.”

Before stunning Nadal on Centre Court on Thursday, Brown had only won consecutive tour-level matches once this year.

He said “I guess the main thing for me is to accept that my game has that span.”

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9:15 p.m.

Ivo Karlovic beat the fading light and Alexandr Dolgopolov to advance after a marathon five-setter at Wimbledon.

The hard-serving Karlovic hit 53 aces in beating the Ukrainian 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 13-11 Thursday to reach the third round at the Grand Slam tournament.

It was the last match to finish for the day, shortly before play would have had to be suspended because of bad light. The Croatian’s victory ensured the entire second round was completed on schedule.

Karlovic will next face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the third round Saturday.

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9 p.m.

Even after another tough loss at Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal could find a bit of humor in his situation.

In his news conference after losing to 102nd-ranked Dustin Brown in the second round Thursday, Nadal was asked if he intended to stay in Wimbledon a bit longer in the house he’s renting with his family, to enjoy the atmosphere.

“I don’t have any more work here in London,” Nadal said. “So, if you want to use the house, it’s going to be free tomorrow.”

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7:45 p.m.

Rafael Nadal fell to another early exit at Wimbledon on Thursday — this time to 102nd-ranked Dustin Brown.

Nadal lost 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to the qualifier from Germany, who frustrated the Spaniard throughout with his aggressive serve-and-volley style.

It’s the fourth year in a row that Nadal leaves the All England Club early. The two-time champion lost in the second round in 2012, first round in 2013 and fourth round last year — with none of his opponents ranked higher than 100th.

This, however, was the first time Nadal has lost to a qualifier in a Grand Slam tournament.

Before Wimbledon, Brown had only won back-to-back matches on the ATP tour once this year, reaching the quarterfinals in Doha.

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7:10 p.m.

Rafael Nadal is in trouble against 102nd-ranked Dustin Brown going down two sets to one in their second-round match on Centre Court.

Brown leads 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 and is using an aggressive serve-and-volley style to frustrate the two-time champion. Nadal was up a break in the first set but finds himself on the brink of another early exit at the All England Club. Nadal lost in the second round in 2012, first round in 2013 and fourth round last year.

Brown has only won back-to-back matches on the ATP tour once this year, reaching the quarterfinals in Doha. But the German is using an eclectic mix of shot-making that is drawing loud cheers from the Centre Court crowd — and giving Nadal all he can handle.

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6:00 p.m.

Andy Murray gave the Duchess of Cornwall an unexpected souvenir after his victory at Wimbledon on Thursday.

As he usually does after a match, Murray threw his wristbands into the crowd after beating Robin Haase in straight sets in the second round on Court 1 — and happened to hit Wimbledon chairman Philip Brook, who was sitting next Prince Charles’ wife, Camilla.

“I saw her briefly after the match,” Murray said. “Then the Duchess opened up her bag and my wristband was in there, so he (Brook) obviously had given it to her.”

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5:15 p.m.

Nick Kyrgios scaled a wall outside Court 14 to catch a glimpse of the Wimbledon doubles victory by his fellow Australians Lleyton Hewitt and Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Kyrgios, the 20-year-old who’ll play his third-round singles match Friday, was wearing his trademark set of pink headphones when he was spotted peeking in on his pals’ match.

Hewitt, the 2002 singles champion who is competing at the All England Club for the final time, and Kokkinakis came back to edge Marin Draganja and Henri Kontinen 6-7 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2, 8-6 in the first round of singles. Both of those Australians lost in the opening round of singles.

Go here to check out a photo of Kyrgios tweeted by Jonathan Liew of The Telegraph:

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4:45 p.m.

With a vintage performance punctuated by a spectacular trick shot, Roger Federer looked as good as ever on the grass-courts of Wimbledon.

Federer beat Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 in the second round on Thursday and pulled off arguably the shot of the tournament so far in the second set — a between-the-legs lob that helped him break for 5-2.

The seven-time champion struggled with Querrey’s serve in the first set before breaking for a 5-4 lead, and then dominated the last two sets.

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4:35 p.m.

Defending champion Petra Kvitova keeps steamrolling opponents at Wimbledon.

The Czech player joined the growing list of favorites to earn straight-forward victories in the second round by beating Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-2, 6-0 in less than an hour on Court 1 on Thursday.

Kvitova has dropped just three games in two matches so far after beating Kiki Bertens 6-1, 6-0 in the first round.

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4:20 p.m.

Roger Federer added another highlight-reel moment to his collection from Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

The seven-time champion hit an audacious between-the-legs forehand lob from the baseline against Sam Querrey in the second set of their second-round match on Thursday — and won the point.

With Querrey serving and Federer up 4-2 in the set, the Swiss star chased down a shot and let the ball go through his legs before hitting his lob over the tall American. Querrey chased down the shot but returned it into the net.

Federer went on to break before taking a 2-0 lead.

A video of the shot is here: http://clips.wimbledon.com/g/v/JrQlxwk6ZJ6

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4:10 p.m.

Former finalist Agnieszka Radwanska needed just 49 minutes to win her second-round match at Wimbledon on Thursday.

Radwanska easily dispatched Alja Tomljanovic of Australia 6-0, 6-2 on Court 2.

The 13th-seeded Pole was broken when serving for the match at 5-1, but broke right back at love to seal the win.

Radwanska lost the 2012 final to Serena Williams.

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3:10 p.m.

Andy Murray had a laugh at his BBC TV interviewer’s expense after Thursday’s straight-set victory at Wimbledon.

At the close of their 2 1/2-minute post-match exchange, Murray was asked, “A lot of people, when they go home from work, they say, ‘I had a really good day at work today.’ What will you say when you walk through the front door?”

That drew an incredulous look and a chuckle from the tournament’s 2013 champion.

“Is that what they do?” Murray replied. “Like, when you walk through the front door, you go, ‘Oh, I had a great day today’?”

Responded his interlocutor: “Well, it depends how the interviews go, Andy.”

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3:05 p.m.

Former finalist Sabine Lisicki came from a set and a break down to beat Christina McHale of the United States 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 on Centre Court on Thursday to advance to the third round of Wimbledon.

Lisicki was outplayed in the first set and was broken to start the second. But the 2013 runner-up turned things around by breaking right back and then won the last five games of the decider, closing the match out with a backhand winner.

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2:40 p.m.

Andy Murray had little trouble advancing to the third round of Wimbledon, dismantling Robin Haase of the Netherlands in straight sets on Court 1.

Murray won 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 as Haase failed to put up much resistance against the home favorite.

Murray broke his opponent six times to wrap up the win in 1 hour, 27 minutes.

Murray, the 2013 champion, has never failed to get past the second round at Wimbledon.

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1:50 p.m.

Caroline Wozniacki made things a bit difficult for herself before advancing to the third round of Wimbledon, beating Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 7-6 (6) on Thursday.

The fifth-seeded Wozniacki looked headed for a routine victory when leading 5-1 in the second set but was broken twice when serving for the match. She finally converted her second match point in the tiebreaker with a backhand volley winner.

The former No.1 hasn’t had much success at Wimbledon, where she has never made it past the fourth round.

In other early matches, No. 8-seeded Ekaterina Makarova of Russia lost 6-2, 7-5 to Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, while No. 10 Angelique Kerber of Germany beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 7-5, 6-2.

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12:15 p.m.

Play has started at Wimbledon after a rain delay of about 45 minutes.

A light shower pushed back the start of matches on the outside courts, which had been set to begin at 11:30 a.m. It was the first rain delay of this year’s tournament.

Organizers said more showers could come throughout the day.

Play was due to start as scheduled on Centre Court and Court 1 at 1 p.m.

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11:45 a.m.

Prince Charles’ wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will be among the guests in the Royal Box at Wimbledon on Thursday.

Camilla has been a regular visitor to Wimbledon in recent years. Michael and Carole Middleton, the parents of Prince William’s wife Kate, will also be in the Royal Box.

The parents of Roger Federer, Robbie and Lynette, are also on hand to watch the seven-time Wimbledon champion play his second-round match against Sam Querrey of the U.S.

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11:20 a.m.

The start of play at Wimbledon has been delayed because of rain.

Play on outside courts had been scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. but was pushed back because of a light shower. Organizers said rain showers were forecast to continue into the afternoon.

Play on Centre Court, which is protected by a retractable roof, will begin at 1 p.m. with Christina McHale of the U.S. facing Sabine Lisicki of Germany.

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11:00 a.m.

Wimbledon is getting its first drops of rain for this year’s tournament.

After the hottest day in the Grand Slam tournament’s history on Wednesday, temperatures were cooler and a light drizzle started falling shortly before play was set to start on Thursday. Covers were pulled over the outside courts, while the roof stayed closed on Centre Court.

Play on outside courts was set to begin at 11:30 a.m., and no announcement had been made about whether matches will be delayed.

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The Latest: At 30, Brown shows he can beat world’s best