By Michael Roddy
LONDON (Reuters) - Dread-locked German Dustin Brown was nowhere to be seen at Wimbledon on Friday, at least into the early afternoon, but his shock upset of Rafa Nadal the night before remained the talk of the tournament.
Brown's Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) account, @DreddyTennis, was alive with congratulatory messages, some in German, some in English.
"So proud of @dreddytennis #Yaaaaaasssssssss," tweeted a follower using the hashtag @herrealhighness.
Newspapers and broadcasters were falling over one another to report the unorthodox career of the 6-foot-5, 30-year-old half-Jamaican, half-German player who spent several years living out of a camper van to save money while he played tennis.
"This guy is incredible," former Wimbledon champion John McEnroe said while commentating for the BBC during the match which Brown won 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-4 to reach the third round of a grand slam for the third time.
Brown came to Wimbledon without a coach and could never afford the expensive training many players get, but after his victory he showed how proud he is of his family and his upbringing by showing off a tattoo of his father.
"It's a portrait of my dad. I got it last year in April, I think. I've always wanted to have a tattoo. I have the portrait of my dad at home in my bedroom, also. I don't get to see him that often. Normally in the off-season," Brown told a news conference.
"It's been a very long road for me and my whole family. That's one of the things I've been wanting to do for a very long time and I had the opportunity to do that with a great tattoo artist in Cologne in Germany last year."
Brown's Twitter account before his famous win over 14-times grand slam champion Nadal had some 41,000 followers, but the number was rapidly rising.
The 30-year-old world number 102's next challenge comes on Saturday when he faces Viktor Troicki of Serbia.