Wimbledon Wonder Marcus Willis is hoping to once again shine in the limelight as he travels to Vienna to play in the Tie Break Tens tournament.
Willis made headlines this year after coming through six rounds of qualifying to reach the second round of the Wimbledon championships before losing to Roger Federer. Since then the Brit hasn’t played a match on the tour, but has been granted a wildcard spot into the qualifying draw for next week’s Vienna Open, a ATP 500 event.
In the Tens tournament, Willis has been drawn in the same group as Andy Murray and Goran Ivanisevic. The event features six players battling it out in two groups of three with the top two players progressing to the semifinals. Unlike traditional tennis, the event consists of players playing in tiebreak matches with the first to ten points winning.
Looking ahead to his debut in the exhibition extravaganza, where the winner takes home a $250,000 paycheck, world No.498 Willis believes that the format of the competition increases his chances of stunning compatriot Murray.
‘Could I beat Andy Murray in a ten-point tie-break? Probably,” said Willis. “It’s ten points. Accrington Stanley would lose to Manchester United over 90 minutes, but in a 10-minute match they would stand a chance. I think it will suit my game. It’s exciting, it’s a sprint, and the crowd are going to be into it. I’m lucky to have been given this opportunity and I’m going to get in there.”
The lengthy absence from the tour from Willis has been somewhat of a strategic move as well as a health-related one (he developed a hernia during his Wimbledon run). In a recent interview with British media, the 26-year-old is determined to return to the sport stronger than before.
“My training programme has been very specific,” Willis explained during an interview with The Telegraph. “It’s about when I eat, how often I eat, weighing food. Then I get adjusted physically.”
“When I go back [on tour] I don’t want to stop, I want to play from 26 years old to 33, 34. Because I think that’s possible now with science today, you can look after your body.” He later added.
Besides the curiosity concerning how well the British underdog will fair in Vienna, the other group of the exhibition will feature home favourite Dominic Thiem against Tommy Haas and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
This year will be the second edition of the event after London hosted the inaugural competition in December 2015. The entire exhibition, which takes place on October 23rd, will be streamed live on https://www.facebook.com/tiebreaktens and www.tennis.com.
Order of play @tiebreaktens event, October 23, Vienna, @ErsteBankOpen pic.twitter.com/vqNJTBFJeG
— Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) 20 October 2016
Tie Break Tens interview with Marcus Willis
