Marcus Willis’s Wimbledon fairytale came to an end against Roger Federer, but the British qualifier’s 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 defeat could not ruin a day to remember for the new star of the All England Club.
The 25-year-old hit 24 winners, served nine aces and twice came within a whisker of breaking Federer, all while displaying the effervescent personality that has made him such a fan favourite.
“It sounds funny but I am disappointed to lose,” admitted the World No.772. “It’s daunting. It’s tough. I was playing alright at first, I settled into the match. I was enjoying it. If I was playing well and competing with Roger for a couple of sets I was doing well.
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“I've earned myself a beer now!”
Given the thankless task of raining on Willis's parade, Federer was in a business-like mood amid the raucous Centre Court atmosphere.
“It was very different. Marcus brought some unbelievable energy to the court with the fans, his play and his personality as well,” Federer said. “It was very refreshing. I always knew it was going to be a completely different match than I’d played at Wimbledon before.”
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“Marcus had nothing to lose. He could go out and enjoy himself and I thought he did that wonderfully.”
Just months ago Willis, who works as a coach to children and senior citizens a club, was considering calling time on a tennis career that appeared to be going nowhere.
But, persuaded to give it one last shot by his new girlfriend, who was in attendance, Willis battled through to the main draw at Wimbledon via six qualifying matches before beating World No.54 Ricardas Berankis in the first round.
His reward was 84 minutes trading blows with a tennis legend and, given the massive gulf in class, Willis acquitted himself better than most expected.
And he did it cheekily playing in a shirt monogrammed with the Swiss great’s ‘RF’ logo.
Earlier on Centre Court, Novak Djokovic racked up his 30th successive Grand Slam victory brushing aside Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(5) to reach the third round on a day which saw rain cause a number of matches on the other courts to be cancelled.