Big Brit Willis smashes those trolls
MARCUS Willis has defied critics who branded him ‘fat’ by wiping out the reigning doubles champions and storming into the second week of Wimbledon.
The British player, 26, who has jokingly referred to himself as Cartman after the ‘bigboned’ character in US cartoon South Park, soared into the public eye when he took on former champion Roger Federer last year.
And now – despite not qualifying for the singles at Wimbledon – Willis has wiped out French defending doubles champions PierreHugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut with his partner Jay Clarke, 18, following a 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7-3) 5-7 6-3 victory.
It came after Willis, who recently became a father for the first time, was repeatedly trolled on social media for his weight, with critics branding him ‘fat’, a ‘tubbster’ and joking that he ‘ate all the pies’.
After the abuse, his mother Cathy Willis, a teacher, decided that enough was enough and started giving his critics a talking to. An account believed to belong to the tennis star’s mother sarcastically tweeted: ‘Totally disgraced himself out there with those faultless volleys and lobs, countless aces, staging a tremendous comeback’.
When one social media user accused Willis of not ‘taking his tennis seriously’ or playing in enough tournaments, Mrs Willis wrote: ‘He plays very few tournaments as it is very expensive to tour. I don’t need to research buddy, I’m his mother.’ Willis will today return to the court to play against a Croatian Austrian doubles pair and has described being at Wimbledon as ‘every Brit’s dream’.
In a press conference following Saturday’s stunning victory, when asked what his expectations had been, Willis said: ‘Expectation was to lose probably, but I knew we could get close’.
Willis said that he and Clarke were friends outside of tennis, adding: ‘Only known each other past year, if that. I’m an old man, he’s a youngster.’ Of the online abuse, Willis told reporters: ‘Yeah, I mean, who are they?
‘They have got a lot of spare time on their hands to sit and abuse people on Twitter who are in the spotlight. I’m sure they would rather be in the spotlight rather than sat at home eating a bag of Wotsits.’