From the start it was obvious that Marcus Willis came out to the Centre Court with the sole intention of having fun. This was probably the only time a player was more supported at Wimbledon more than Roger Federer. The crowd gave a massive applause as Federer put a backhand in the net, which was the first point Willis won in the match. Willis got a break point and a game point in the first set, but didn’t manage to close out either, meaning that Federer won the first set 6-0.
Willis finally got his first game in the match during the second set, which was received with a huge round of applause by the Centre Court crowd. The Brit got more relaxed after getting the game, and was getting some more games in the match. Without a doubt, Federer had lowered his level after the first set as well, but still good enough to get away with a comfortable win. The underdog received medical treatment for his left arm during a changeover and seemed to be in pain while receiving the treatment. That didn’t stop him from firing away with the arm on serve and his forehand. Federer broke for 4-2 after a very tough game on Willis’ serve, saving 2 break points. The Swiss served the second set out with a clean game, winning the second set 6-3.
In the third and final set, Willis had the advantage of serving first, so those were the first times he got to lead in a set against the Swiss player. The left-handed qualifier was playing his best tennis of the match, completely relaxed. At 3-2, he even got his second break point of the match, and he could have easily stolen the set. However Federer didn’t let any such thing happen and got to 3-3. The Swiss himself broke his opponent’s serve just 2 games later with a clean game, in a very impressive manner. When serving out the match, he got to a 15-30 situation on his serve, but won the next three points to end the match. The level gap between the two players was obvious and visible, but Marcus Willis knew that, and enjoyed the match to the fullest anyway.
“The atmosphere, I expected something like this, especially under the roof. He was going to have some supporters, they were going to have chants,” Federer said about the match conditions.
“I must tell you, I was quite a bit intrigued even before he was in my section of the draw. After he qualified, I was reading a lot about his story. And then next thing you know, he’s like one match away from me if I win. Of course then it happened. More and more stories build up.”
The 17-time grand slam champion has also handed given his personal advice to the new British tennis sensation.
“it’s really important to set yourself goals, short‑term, long‑term, how many tournaments to play, when to practice. Sometimes I feel like these players lose sight of how important practice is. Matches you can play every week on tour. It’s very misleading sometimes where you just think, this next week could be the breakthrough (for Willis),” advised the 17-times Grand Slam champion.
Roger Federer’s third round opponent will be either No. 30 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine or another Brit; Dan Evans. Their match was just heading off into the first set tiebreak as it was interrupted by rain.
As for Marcus Willis, he will rise by 356 spots in the rankings. From No. 722 to No. 416, which will definitely guarantee him getting into the qualifications of most Challengers, and being seeded at most Futures tournaments he will enter. To conclude, after the Brexit and England being knocked out of the EURO 2016 by Iceland, Marcus Willis was the cheer-up story that Britain so desperately needed.
