Marcus Willis

Marcus Willis
Country (sports) United Kingdom Great Britain
Born (1990-10-09) 9 October 1990
Slough, England, UK
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Turned pro 2007
Plays Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach(es) Matt Smith (2013–)
Prize money $166,466
Singles
Career record 1–1
Career titles 0
0 Challenger, 9 Futures
Highest ranking No. 322 (16 June 2014)
Current ranking No. 445 (28 November 2016)
Grand Slam Singles results
Wimbledon 2R (2016)
Doubles
Career record 0–0
Career titles 0
0 Challenger, 26 Futures
Highest ranking No. 221 (4 August 2014)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Wimbledon Q1 (2008, 2009, 2010, 2014)
Last updated on: 28 November 2016.

Marcus Willis (born 9 October 1990) is a professional British tennis player. Willis made his tour debut at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships having qualified for the main draw.[1]

Early and personal life

Willis began playing tennis at the age of 9. His mother is a primary school teacher and his father is an accountant.[2] Willis attended St Paul's Primary School, Wokingham and The Forest School, Winnersh.[3] Willis is in a relationship with Jennifer Bate, an NHS dental surgeon and former beauty queen.[4] Currently, they are expecting their first child. Willis teaches at Downe House an independent girls school.

Junior career

Before the 2008 Australian Open began, Willis was sent home by the LTA after he had ignored a final warning about his slack attitude. The last straw came when he arrived late to a practice session, having missed the bus and forgotten his rackets.[5][6] Willis reached a high of No. 15 in the combined junior world rankings in September 2008.

Junior Slam results – Singles:

Australian Open: A (—)
French Open: 2R (2008)
Wimbledon: 3R (2007, 2008)
US Open: 2R (2008)

Junior Slam results – Doubles:

Australian Open: A (—)
French Open: 1R (2008)
Wimbledon: 2R (2007)
US Open: 2R (2008)

Senior career

2015

Willis won two Futures and reached the semifinals of four Futures events,[7] becoming world no 348 in July.[8] Managed & sponsored by A1 Pharmaceuticals from 2013-15 that lead to 7 futures singles titles during the sponsorship

2016

The only success for Willis in the first five months of 2016 was qualifying for the Tunisia Futures F1 in January, and progressing to the quarterfinals,[9] where he won $356.[6]

His failure to defend the previous year's points, led to his ranking falling to no 772 by the start of Wimbledon.[8]

Willis won six matches to qualify for the main draw of 2016 Wimbledon Championships.[1] In the first round, Willis upset Ričardas Berankis, a player ranked more than 700 places above him, to set up a clash with seven-time champion Roger Federer.[10] Willis was defeated by Federer 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 on Centre Court in the second round, receiving a standing ovation nevertheless.[11] In an interview after the match, Federer praised Willis, saying that since Willis had beaten Berankis, he prepared for the match as if playing someone in the same league as the top 50 players in the world. He added, "Marcus brought an unbelievable energy to the court with the fans and his personality, it was refreshing. He came up with some great shotmaking. I knew it would be different to any other match I have played at Wimbledon, it was a pleasure to play against him."[12]

The BBC held a vote for the best shot of the Wimbledon tournament,[13] and the winner was Willis lobbing Roger Federer.[14]

Injury prevented Willis from playing immediately after Wimbledon 2016, but he was given a wild card into qualifying for the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna over the weekend of October 22–23. He has also been invited to play Tie Break Tens at the same venue on Sunday 23 October, against Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem and Jo Wilfried Tsonga.[15]

His 2nd tournament after Wimbledon was a 10K tournament in Kuwait which he won.

Marcus Willis played on the touchtennis World Tour for 5 years between 2010 and 2015 and still plays exhibition matches from time to time.

Career finals

ATP Challenger Tour

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Result Date Category Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Runner-up 2 November 2014 Challenger Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger, Charlottesville, United States Hard (i) United Kingdom Lewis Burton Philippines Treat Huey
Denmark Frederik Nielsen		 6–3, 3–6, [2–10]

ITF circuit

Singles: 14 (9–5)

Doubles: 42 (26–16)

References

  1. 1 2 "Wimbledon: Britain's world number 775 Marcus Willis qualifies for main draw". BBC Sport. 24 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Marcus Willis". atpworldtour.com. Association of Tour Professionals. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  3. ↑ "Wimbledon 2016: Who is Marcus Willis, the new British hero at SW19?". Telegraph. 27 June 2016.
  4. ↑ "Brit underdog Marcus Willis begins his Centre Court battle with tennis royalty Roger Federer in front of the ex-beauty queen who saved his career". Daily Mail. 29 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "A new hope for British tennis?". Independent. 23 January 2008.
  6. 1 2 "Wimbledon: Roger Federer next for British sensation Marcus Willis after amazing victory". Independent. 27 July 2016.
  7. ↑ "Activity 2015". ATP World Tour. 31 December 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Singles Rankings". ATP World Tour. 27 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "Tunisia Futures F1". ITF Tennis. 17 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Wimbledon 2016: Marcus Willis stuns Ricardas Berankis, plays Federer next". BBC Sport. 27 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Wimbledon 2016: Roger Federer beats British qualifier Marcus Willis". BBC Sport. 29 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "Brit underdog Marcus Willis is BEATEN by Roger Federer on Centre Court—but the ex-beauty queen who saved his career and his crazy WillBombs fans still think he's ace". Daily Mail. 29 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "Vote: Wimbledon shot of the tournament". BBC Sport. 9 July 2016.
  14. ↑ "Wimbledon 2016: Willis' lob wins shot of the tournament". BBC Sport. 10 July 2016.
  15. ↑ "Tennis podcast: Marcus Willis: 'Can I beat Andy Murray? Over a ten-point tie-break, yes'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-10-17.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.