Talking Tennis with… Marcus Willis

From facing Federer after ‘the best winning streak in Wimbledon history’ to working as a bricklayer during lockdown, Marcus Willis has seen every side of the pro tennis life. Now back on the ITF doubles tour, Marcus reflects on his career and how tennis has formed him as a person…

“Looking back, what an honour it was to play him on that court…But at the time I was in battle mode!”

So says Marcus Willis of the biggest match of his career, telling the story with a smile on his face. It took place in front of a packed Centre Court at Wimbledon, against arguably the greatest tennis player of all time.

Marcus did indeed battle Roger Federer, showing character and plenty of skill to come back from a 6-0 first set loss to take three and then four games off the Swiss genius in the subsequent sets, earning a standing ovation from a crowd thrilled to see an underdog Englishman starring on home turf, and on the way playing a sublime lob that was voted the Shot of the Tournament on the BBC.

That was 29 June 2016. Fast forward to late 2020 and the second Covid lockdown, and Marcus found himself working with his cousin as a bricklayer. Life as a pro sports player is tough and absurdly unpredictable.

But Marcus was already very familiar with sporting adversity when he faced Federer. After turning professional in 2007 at the age of 17, he achieved a career-high ranking of 322 in 2014, but success proved elusive and by early 2016 he was considering retirement following a hamstring injury.  At the time he was coaching kids at Warwick Boat Club and was ranked 772 in the world — his tennis career having apparently fizzled out. Yet, persuaded to give it one more go as a pro by his girlfriend (later wife) Jennifer Bate, he trained hard for Wimbledon qualifying, gaining a spot when a fellow Brit pulled out injured.

A quite remarkable, unexpected run of success followed. He won six qualifying matches to reach the main draw, including victories over future superstars Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, and in the first round proper he beat Ričardas Berankis, a player ranked more than 700 places above him. It was a run described by Cult Tennis as ‘The Best Winning Streak in Wimbledon Tennis History’. Marcus had already smashed the odds just to get to play Federer.

“It’s weirder looking back at it now then it was at the time,” says Marcus. “Back then I had played all those qualifying matches and I was very much in tournament mode. I knew the occasion was going to be big and I was excited to play on Centre Court, but in my head, I was very much trying to problem-solve. And when playing Federer there are a lot of problems!”

When we judge an athlete’s development we tend to focus on their success or failure as a competitor. But sport also gives competitors a chance to grow and develop as people. Travelling internationally as a talented junior player, Marcus was forced to mature at a young age.

“I went to school and did my basic GCSEs, but I had very much been travelling the world, being in  situations that other people would have not been in at a young age. I remember, I was 14 and had to go to Belgium by myself. I was carrying a big bag and there was a problem with the hotel. You deal with these situations that you are not really taught how to deal with. You learn a lot about yourself. You are by yourself an awful lot which is sometimes good and sometimes bad. I think you are very self-aware, I am very self-aware of my emotions, how I am feeling. I learnt what I should and shouldn’t do with my spare time.“

The Covid-19 lockdowns brought more than enough spare time for any sports player. Cancelled events and empty stadiums became familiar, but less widely understood was the devastating impact on athletes’ ability to support themselves financially. Even Marcus’ income stream as a tennis coach dried up.

“In the second lockdown in the winter they banned tennis coaching, so not only was I not allowed to play, I wasn’t allowed to coach either. I wanted to earn a bit of money because I still had to pay my rent and I was stuck at home.  The local Tesco was full up because people were taking every job.

“I asked my cousin if I could come and do some building work with him. I really enjoyed bricklaying. It was manual labour, it was hard work, and it was cold. But it was quite therapeutic; you move things around and you see things being built.”

Being a coach is very important to Marcus. Professional sport dominates a player’s life and glories are often fleeting. But excelling at a sport gives athletes with the right attitude the chance to give back to the game they fell in love with and the community surrounding it, spreading the knowledge and insights they’ve gained. When Marcus is talking about coaching junior players,teaching them that he’s learnt over the years, the pride is obvious in his face.

“I have coached people of all different ages and abilities. At first it was difficult because I wasn’t used to working 7,8,9 hours a day at a tennis court. Now I have got the mindset that if I can help somebody get better or feel a bit better about themselves then that’s my job done. It is a gradual process; you don’t go from playing tennis once a week to playing at Wimbledon. If you make someone’s day better rather than worse, then they have a chance to succeed.”

And despite everything, Marcus continues to upset the odds as a player. Having announced his retirement in March 2021, he returned to top level tennis as a doubles player in 2022 on the ITF tour, winning the ITF 25k tournament in Madrid with regular partner Douglas Scott. We can’t wait to see how the next stage of Marcus’ unpredictable but fascinating career unfolds.

Marcus in the Tie Break Tens in Vienna, 2016. Image via MacKrys on creative commons

See also:

Talking Tennis with… Tim Henman

Talking Tennis with… Danny Sapsford

Talking Tennis with… Sarah Borwell

Interview by Peter Ryan. Additional reporting by Talking Tennis.

Image top: Marcus Willis at Wimbledon 2016. Photo via creative commons