Marcus Willis was one of the stories of The Championships at Wimbledon last year. He came through qualifying unheralded before winning a main draw match. He then faced Roger Federer in an entertaining if one-sided encounter.
This year Willis isn’t unheralded but he is under pressure to defend the points from last year. He got his attempt to defend or improve on last year off to the perfect start. He defeated the 31st seed Andrej Martin of Slovakia 7-5, 7-5.
Willis held serve throughout and broke in the eleventh game of each set. Willis will face fellow Brit Liam Broady in the second round after he defeated Canadian Frank Dancevic 6-2, 6-3 in the first round. Broady’s ranking has slipped over the last 18 months, but has a good chance to make the final round at least.
Britain’s young talent Jay Clarke picked up a strong win over Marcelo Arevalo 6-3, 6-4. He will have a chance to make the final round as his next scheduled opponent Elias Ymer is far more comfortable on clay. The young Swede defeated 30th seed Duckhee Lee. The young Korean is highly-rated as a future prospect but he went down in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
American 17th seed Reilly Opelka suffered a disappointing early exit to compatriot Rajeev Ram. Opelka is a former Wimbledon Junior Champion, having won the title in 2015 before suffering a bad ankle injury. Ram himself is a strong grass court player though, having twice won the Newport Hall of Fame Championships. Ram is also an accomplished doubles player, with a successful partnership with South African Raven Klaasen. Ram edged the match 7-6, 7-6.
