Nadal makes early Wimbledon exit for fourth consectutive year after defeat to qualifier Brown

German qualifier Dustin Brown stunned Spain's Rafael Nadal in the second round at Wimbledon ©Getty Images

Two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal's poor recent record at the All England Club continued as the Spaniard was knocked out by German qualifier Dustin Brown in the second round of this year's tournament.

Nadal, who has slipped to tenth in the world rankings this year, was looking to improve on recent performances at Wimbledon having failed to reach the quarter-finals in three years since he last made the final back in 2011.

He was stunned, however, in the opening set by the dreadlocked Brown, who changed nationality from Jamaica to German in 2010, as the attacking style of the world's 102nd ranked player helped him take the set 7-5.

Nadal appeared to have turned the tide in the second set by taking it 6-3 but had no answer to Brown in the third and fourth sets of the match as the German completed a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

While Nadal was exiting the tournament early for the fourth consecutive year, there was no concerns for seven-time champion Roger Federer .

He advanced with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 triumph over America's Sam Querrey, while sixth seed Tomas Berydch of the Czech Republic also progressed, beating France's Nicolas Mahut 6-1, 6-1, 6-4.

Defending women's champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic had another convincing straight sets win ©Getty Images

The 2013 champion Andy Murray was another of the top seeds to enjoy a straightforward second round match as the British star advanced in straight sets for the second consecutive match, comfortably sweeping aside the challenge of The Netherlands' Robin Haase 6-1, 6-1, 6-4.

Murray's fellow Briton, James Ward, advanced to the third round of the tournament for the first time as he surprisingly overcame the Czech Republic's Jiří Veselý 6-2, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.

Shocks were few and far between in the women's draw with Germany's Sabine Lisicki arguably having the trickiest afternoon of the top seeds as the 2013 runner-up was forced to battle back from a set down to beat the United States' Christina McHale 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 and continue her campaign.

The Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova continued to show why she is the defending champion at the tournament, producing another devastating display to beat Japan's Kurumi Nara 6-2, 6-0.

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki, meanwhile, was another victor in straight sets as she beat the Czech Republic's Denisa Allertová 6-1, 7-6.