Marcus Willis had one heck of a day at Wimbledon. The world No. 772 found himself playing Roger Federer through an unlikely set or circumstances and made sure he enjoyed it.
Marcus Willis lost to Roger Federer, but won everyone’s hearts in the process
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
Before the match he was sure he’d lose — but was excited anyway.
"I'm going to try and win a tennis match. I probably won't!"
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 29, 2016
Coming up later: the match of Marcus Willis' life...https://t.co/FIg0yH0wtx
ESPN’s pre-match graphic had something different going on.
lol at espn comparing homes #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/N0ifvjDWK9
— Jordan Heck (@JordanHeckFF) June 29, 2016
Willis took to the court wearing a Roger Federer shirt.
The first set was complete domination by Federer, but Willis never quit — and when he actually managed to take a game off him, well ...
That feeling when you win your first ever game on Centre Court...#Wimbledon https://t.co/UbqLdkS9E2
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 29, 2016
The match wasn’t a stomp by any means. Sure, Willis was greatly outmatched by Federer, but he had some fight in the second and third sets. When it was all over, Federer knew that the moment was far more important to his opponent than to him and he was all class.
Classy.
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 29, 2016
Roger Federer hangs back to let Marcus Willis soak up the crowd's applause.#Wimbledon https://t.co/Wby6YU4bIz
Simply amazing. If you haven’t followed this journey, here’s how Marcus Willis made it all the way to this match.
Here's how Marcus Willis went from "overweight loser" to playing Roger Federer at Wimbledon.https://t.co/asiWpGelTE
— SB Nation (@SBNation) June 29, 2016
