My SW19 miracle? It’s only the start
Wimbledon wonder Marcus Willis is ready for more heroics
After becoming an overnight household name during Wimbledon, Marcus Willis could have gone one of two ways.
there was the very modern route of pursuing minor celebrity through the likes of tV reality shows, or the one that took him back into the hard school of the tennis circuit.
Despite a recent appearance in Hello! to announce that he and partner Jenny are to become parents next year, the unlikely hero of SW19 has chosen the latter path.
the magazine informed us that there is no danger of the baby being called roger, although the couple revealed that the child was conceived around the time that Willis played the great federer on Centre Court.
Willis is now focusing on his return to the tour at the AtP event in Vienna later this month. He has been given a wildcard into the qualifying, hoping to win a place in the main draw alongside Andy Murray.
Little has been seen of him since an extraordinary run which saw the then semi-retired world No 772 come through Wimbledon’s pre- qualifying and main qualifying and then reach the second round proper, where he lost to federer.
After that he played World team tennis in America for New York empire and then succumbed to a hernia problem, which has taken months to come right.
Willis (right) looks lean after a vigorous fitness regime that has seen him lose seven per cent of his body fat from what is a naturally generous figure.
‘everyone knows I am going back on tour and preparing,’ said Willis, 26, who looks back in amusement on the brief media frenzy but with disappointment on the straight- sets loss to federer.
‘He was very good but it was frustrating. I’ve played better, I could have got stuck in more. I played all right, gave him a match in the end, but I believe my level can be very high.
‘I felt comfortable on the clay coming into Wimbledon — I was winning matches 6-3, 6-0 against guys in the top 300. Grass is a good surface for me because I come into the net a lot.
‘In the (Brits only) pre-qualies I was playing really good tennis. I thought, ‘‘You know what, if I get a good draw now you never know’’. then I had a horrible draw and I was 6-1 down in 20 minutes in the first round but I just toughed it out.’
Willis was part of a promising generation of British players that included Dan evans. He admits there were times when their work ethic did not match their natural talent, but also feels they were not handled especially well.
‘the number of players in the UK who have given up who could have been very good — it’s a shambles. I don’t know how Alex Bogdanovic wasn’t top 100, people aren’t managed properly. ‘Someone like evans, he’s very talented but you need to work it out. He’s not your normal straight up tennis player and neither am I. I went through a rebellious phase when I was younger, but people mature at different times.’ Willis says that at Wimbledon, away from the cameras, Murray and federer were friendly and supportive. He sensed, though, that not everyone in the British game was so delighted for him. ‘I noticed the people who don’t say ‘‘ Well done’’, who aren’t pleased for you, who keep really quiet. You’re always going to get jealousy, because I qualified for Wimbledon and played roger federer. It’s a big deal, most people don’t get to do that.’ Back at No 495 in the world, Willis does not have a fixed schedule beyond Vienna. ‘I’m getting married on November 1, my honeymoon is three nights in Devon. I’m just going to turn my phone off and go on a walk. I might play some smaller events. I originally planned to go back in January, so any tournaments I play before are a bonus.’ Willis will take on Andy Murray and others for a winner-take-all prize of $250,000 in Tie Break Tens Vienna on October 23. TieBreakTens.com