Marcus_Willis

Marcus Willis

Marcus Willis

British tennis player

Marcus Willis (born 9 October 1990) is a British professional tennis player. Willis made his tour debut at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships after qualifying for the main draw, where he gained recognition after playing against Roger Federer in the second round on Centre Court.

Quick Facts Country (sports), Born ...

Since August 2022, he has specialized in doubles. He has a career high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 126, achieved in March 2024.

Willis also plays touchtennis, in which he has a career-high ranking of No. 1 in singles, having won 13 singles and two doubles titles.[1]

Personal life and junior career

Willis began playing tennis at the age of 9. His mother is a learning support assistant and his father is an accountant.[2] Willis attended St Paul's Primary School, Wokingham and The Forest School, Winnersh.[3] Willis is married to Jennifer Bate, an NHS dental surgeon and former beauty model whom he had met at a concert.[4]

Willis played his first junior match in April 2006 at the age of 15 at a grade 5 tournament in the UK. Throughout his junior career, he reached a high of No. 15 in the combined junior world rankings in September 2008 at posted a win–loss record of 92–36.[5]

Willis was sent home from the 2008 Australian Open by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) for his "slack attitude" when he missed the bus to a practice session and eventually arrived without rackets, having left them at his hotel.[6][7]

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)

Professional career

2007–2015

Willis officially turned pro in 2007 at the age of 17. Throughout 2007–2015, he made 14 ITF singles finals and 41 ITF doubles finals (winning 8 singles and 25 doubles). He only made one challenger final, the 2014 Charlottesville Challenger where he made the doubles final partnering Lewis Burton where they lost to top seed Treat Huey and Frederik Nielsen in three sets. He got a wildcard spot into the 2009 Wimbledon Qualifying where he lost in the second round and the 2014 Wimbledon Qualifying where he lost in the first round. He achieved a career-high ranking of 322 on June 16, 2014.

2016: Wimbledon second round

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,[8] where he won $356.[7] His failure to defend the previous year's points led to his ranking falling to number 772 by the start of Wimbledon.[9]

Willis was considering his retirement in 2016 as he had just torn his hamstring and was offered a tennis teaching job in Philadelphia. His girlfriend, Jennifer Bate, convinced him to keep playing professional tennis and to give it one more try. He trained heavily throughout February to May to play his next event at Wimbledon qualifying.

Willis was awarded a spot into the qualifying draw after countryman David Rice withdrew. He won six matches to qualify for the main draw of the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, which included wins against Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.[10] 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.[11] Willis was defeated by Federer 6–0, 6–3, 6–4 on Centre Court in the second round, receiving a standing ovation nevertheless.[12] The BBC later held a vote for the best shot made of the tournament,[13] and Willis's lob over Federer earned him the win.[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 second tournament after Wimbledon was a Future in Kuwait which he won both the singles and the doubles.

2017: Wimbledon doubles third round

Willis played few tournaments in the first half of 2017 due to injuries and becoming a father to his first child (a girl) but played in the Great Britain F1, F2 and F3, reaching the second round, semi-finals and finals respectively, winning $2283 overall. He then reached the quarter-finals of the U.S.A. F15 but lost in the first round of the Spain F14.[16] He then failed to qualify for the Challenger in Surbiton and then reached the second round of the Ilkley Challenger, losing to Sam Groth.[16]

At the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, Willis lost in the final round of qualifying to Illya Marchenko in straight sets, although Willis had been hindered by a knee injury he suffered against fellow Brit Liam Broady in the previous round. Since he failed to defend his points from last years Wimbledon his ranking fell below number 500 in the world.[17]

In the Wimbledon doubles, he and partner Jay Clarke had been awarded a wild card for the main draw. In the opening round, they beat Jared Donaldson and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan after coming back from two sets to love.[18] They caused a big surprise by defeating the defending champions and second seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the next round, also in a five-setter.[19] Their run ended with a loss to Oliver Marach and Mate Pavić in the third round.[20]

2018–2020: Final years in singles

Willis missed Wimbledon in singles after losing to Dan Evans in the pre-qualifying playoffs.[21] His final professional match was in the qualifying event for the 2018 Wimbledon doubles.[22] After Wimbledon, he played for the San Diego Aviators in the 2018 World TeamTennis league,[23] where the team narrowly missed the WTT finals.

He had continued to play doubles tournaments at Futures events since November 2020.[24]

His most recent participation in touchtennis dated back to September 2020,[25] prior to his return in 2022.

2021: Retirement

In March 2021, Willis announced he was retiring from the sport.[22]

2022–2023: Doubles comeback

WIllis resumed playing doubles on the ITF tour from August 2022. Until May 2023, he won seven ITF 25k tournaments, six of them with partner Scott Duncan.[26] He then mainly plays on the ATP Challenger Tour. On 2 December 2023, he won his first ATP Challenger title in Maspalomas, again with partner Duncan.[27]

2024

In January, Willis won his second doubles title on the ATP Challenger Tour in Oeiras, partnering Jay Clarke.

Performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

More information Tournament, SR ...

Doubles

More information Tournament, SR ...

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 16 (9–7)

More information Legend, Finals by surface ...
More information Result, W–L ...

Doubles: 65 (41–23)

More information Legend, Finals by surface ...
More information Result, W–L ...

Wins over top 10 players

Doubles

More information #, Partner ...

Record against top-10 players

Willis' match record against players who have been ranked in the Top 10.

More information Player, Record ...

References

  1. [1]
    "Marcus Willis". touchtennis.com. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  2. [2]
    "Marcus Willis". atpworldtour.com. Association of Tour Professionals. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  3. [3]
    "Wimbledon 2016: Who is Marcus Willis, the new British hero at SW19?". Telegraph. 27 June 2016.
  4. [4]
    "Wimbledon tennis star Marcus Willis and his bride Jenny Bate". 16 August 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  5. [5]
    https://www.itftennis.com/en/players/marcus-willis/800277988/gbr/jt/s/overview/ [bare URL]
  6. [6]
    "A new hope for British tennis?". Independent. 23 January 2008.
  7. [7]
    "Wimbledon: Roger Federer next for British sensation Marcus Willis after amazing victory". Independent. 27 July 2016.
  8. [8]
    "Tunisia Futures F1". ITF Tennis. 17 January 2016.
  9. [9]
    "Singles Rankings". ATP World Tour. 27 July 2015.
  10. [10]
    "Wimbledon: Britain's world number 775 Marcus Willis qualifies for main draw". BBC Sport. 24 June 2016.
  11. [11]
    "Wimbledon 2016: Marcus Willis stuns Ricardas Berankis, plays Federer next". BBC Sport. 27 June 2016.
  12. [12]
    "Wimbledon 2016: Roger Federer beats British qualifier Marcus Willis". BBC Sport. 29 June 2016.
  13. [13]
    "Vote: Wimbledon shot of the tournament". BBC Sport. 9 July 2016.
  14. [14]
    "Wimbledon 2016: Willis' lob wins shot of the tournament". BBC Sport. 10 July 2016.
  15. [15]
    "Tennis podcast: Marcus Willis: 'Can I beat Andy Murray? Over a ten-point tie-break, yes'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  16. [16]
    "Marcus Willis | Player Activity | ATP World Tour | Tennis". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  17. [17]
    "Wimbledon 2017: Marcus Willis & Jay Clarke lose final qualifying matches". BBC Sport. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  18. [18]
    "Willis and Clarke launch resounding comeback to seal Wimbledon doubles triumph".
  19. [19]
    "Marcus Willis repeating Wimbledon fairytale - alongside doubles partner Jay Clarke". The Telegraph. 8 July 2017.
  20. [20]
    "Marcus Willis departs with a smile on his face after winning Wimbledon hearts with Jay Clarke". The Telegraph. 10 July 2017.
  21. [21]
    "Dan Evans edges out Marcus Willis in Wimbledon pre-qualifying". Sky Sports. 22 June 2018.
  22. [22]
    "Willis, Who Played Federer At Wimbledon As World No. 772, Retires". Association of Tennis Professionals. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  23. [23]
    "Marcus Willis Rounds Out Aviators Roster". San Diego Aviators. 18 May 2018.
  24. [24]
    "Marcus Willis | Player Activity | ATP Tour | Tennis". Atp Tour.
  25. [25]
    "Marcus Willis | touchtennis".
  26. [26]
    "Willis Faced Federer At Wimbledon: Inside The Briton's Journey Back". ATP Tour. 6 March 2023.
  27. [27]
    "Scott Duncan & Marcus Willis win their first ATP Challenger title; Heather Watson finishes runner-up in Andorra". LTA. 4 December 2023.
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