As far as outright winners go, lobs might be the least exhilarating way to terminate a point of tennis. You plop the tennis ball high into the air, way out of your opponent’s reach, and then it falls way back down into the court, hooray. You can respect the lob on a technical level—an especially deft placement, or an abnormal amount of topspin to drag it back in the court—but it’s hard to really get riled up to see Andy Murray dink a ball over someone’s head, even though he’s probably the greatest to ever do it.
Dustin Brown, however, is the coolest to ever do it. In yesterday’s match against Jack Sock in the Stockholm Open, Brown spanked this tweener lob:
And then came up with this gorgeous and inhuman behind-the-back half-volley lob:
Jack Sock beat Dustin Brown 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, but the dreadlocked beanpole further entrenched his place as one of the most flamboyant, improvisational players in the game. Always watch him when he’s on.