Marcus Willis ‘earns himself a beer’, and plenty of fans for fairytale Wimbledon 2016 run

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Marcus Willis, Roger Federer Marcus Willis, Marcus Willis Wimbledon, Who is Marcus Willis, Marcus Willis Wimbledon Federer, Marcus WIllis ranking, Marcus Willis Great Britain, tennis news, tennis Marcus Willis lost match but won plenty of hearts. (Source: Reuters)

Andy Murray’s second round opponent at French Open this past year – Mathias Bourgue – asked for a Mars bar and Coke during the changeover at one point in the match. That was pretty comic. Or so we thought.

Enter the fairytale of Marcus Willis. An exceptionally entertaining guy from Nottingham, Willis is ranked World no. 772 (not for long, we presume) and is a self-proclaimed “fat loser” and “cartman”.

All that changed last year when he changed his diet and started working out in preparation for this year. So much so, he had considered leaving the tour and moving to the US to teach amateurs. But that mindset changed when he met his girlfriend reportedly at an Ellie Goulding concert.

On Monday, he already became a giant killer – in a way. Willis beat highest ranked Lithuanian of all time – Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round at Wimbledon. The difference in ranking between the two? 718. But Willis’ second round opponent was a certain Roger Federer. And despite the loud support on his side on Centre Court, the Swiss champion came out on top 6-0, 6-3, 6-4.

And everything since has been fascinating for the lowest ranked player in the draw. To start with, he received a standing ovation post the match.

With his parents in attendance along with friends and his sister, Willis had plenty of support on his side. Not to forget these guys who had three epic chants ready – “Shoes off, if you love Willis”, “Willbomb’s on fire, Federer is terrified” and “Don’t you want me Willis? Don’t you want me woah?”

Roger Federer who normally gets more support than Andy Murray at Wimbledon or even the year ending ATP World Tour finals finally received less support from the London crowd. The seven time Wimbledon winner reckons this is the least support he’s got since he was a wildcard on Court 8 in 1999!

But in all seriousness, “I thought Marcus brought some unbelievable energy to the court, with his fans and his play and his personality,” said a classy Federer.

For Marcus? He was disappointed because he thought he could have done better than he did.

The reaction when Willis finally got on board was pretty amazing – both from him and from the capacity crowd at SW19.

Something to make this whole thing even more comic? Willis wore a “RF” shirt in the match – you know the ones which are Roger Federer merchandise.

In fact, one ESPN graphic compared their homes! (For the record, Federer has 3 homes while Willis stays with his parents!)

And at the end, when all was done and dusted, Willis said, “I’ve earned myself a beer now” and walked off. Not bad for a debut!

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