Britain’s Marcus Willis Plays a Tennis Match for Everybody
Bill Simons
WIMBLEDON—Roger Federer should have been shaking in his Nikes.
For once Wimbledon’s adoring Centre Court crowd would not be cheering Roger Federer’s every move. To make matters worse, his second-round foe had never lost at Wimbledon, while Roger had lost there ten times. Federer’s opponent had never been beaten in a Grand Slam match. Roger had lost 50 times. Goodness, his opponent had not even lost a pro match. The Swiss had lost 244.
Plus, if the match actually proved to be tight, one Marcus Willis had never fallen in a tie-break and had never dropped a five-set match. Roger had lost 214 tie-breaks and had fallen 19 times in the fifth set.
Things were certainly looking grim for the greatest player of all time. The glass was not only half-full for Federer – it was darn near empty.
But such is the glory of stats. You can work them any way you want. They’ve got more twists than a stale pretzel.
After all, Roger, the No. 3 player in the world, is ranked 769 notches ahead of the No. 772 Willis. He’s won 1076 matches on the circuit. Willis can claim one. And Roger is a gabillionaire. He’s pocketed almost $100 million in prize money, plus he has a bank vault full of endorsements from companies that make fancy cars, splendid watches and yummy chocolates.
Willis has won one match on the circuit – his first-round win Monday over Richard Berankis. A bit pudgy, he could easily drop 20 pounds. He’s known as Cartman, which is an homage to the fat, politically incorrect South Park character who, after being told, “Dolphins are intelligent and friendly!” replies yes, they are “intelligent and friendly, [especially] on rye bread, with some mayonnaise.”
So after clips circulated showing Wimbledon’s hero du jour drinking cola and eating candy during a match, there was talk that he soon would be pitching RC Cola (his fave) or Snickers. The man whose shirt didn’t quite fit, who saw himself as a loser a few years ago, was now a winner.
When he emerged onto Centre Court he was radiant. “There’s a great player inside that guy trying to get out,” said one analyst. Now was his moment.
The crowd roared. England loves underdogs. England now needs underdogs. The nation was rattled by its suspect decision to exit from Europe. And they had been humiliated in soccer by tiny Iceland.
A Willis win over TMF (The Mighty Fed) would soothe many a wound. Their prayers probably went like this: “Dear tennis gods, please let that coach from the Warwick Boat Club (yeah, the guy who only charges $33 an hour) prevail.”
Willis emerged on Centre Court beaming with joy. The world was now watching the man who had won seven straight matches on small courts. He was loving it, and the throng was loving him. Here was tennis’ answer to the classic movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” He came to Wimbledon today on the tube. Sure, he sometimes looks like he lingered a bit too long at the bar, and he has stubble. Yes, he was trying to win the “un-winnable” and was hoping to do the “un-doable.” But now he was playing for everybody.
This was Fabrice Santoro with an English accent. Willis knifed backhands that posed puzzling problems. His delicate drop shots morphed into subtle winners. The former badminton wiz unleashed a string of wristy forehand slices, and his serve baffled. Even Federer had trouble reading it, especially on the ad side.
But Marcus was nervous. He tried too hard. And later Willis explained that Roger makes you feel “like you’ve no time…You can’t leave the ball anywhere short or high. It’s just gone…The big points he played ridiculously well. It wasn’t like he was flashy – he was just rock solid.”
Just seventeen minutes into the indoor match, Federer had rained on the parade and taken the crowd out of the mix. Well, until Willis blasted a forehand winner. Still, everyone knew that this was little more than a master class. We witnessed Federer’s calm, his powerful serve, his backhand overheads. This man has confronted every possible challenge this game could throw at him. A carefree Brit playing above his head and occasionally unleashing inventive winners proved, ultimately, a modest threat.
Here was an alpha lion flicking away a succession of pesky mosquitoes. The match was more an incidental bother than a serious occasion. Still, it was a second-round match that Federer said later he would long remember.
After all, occasional brilliance – dicey drop shots, tomahawk overheads and a brilliant (almost humiliating) offensive lob – is just a modest challenge for Federer. The crowd’s groans of disappointment soon became a chorus. Murmurs of resigned frustration resonated.
Still, there was much entertainment value. Federer was actually booed after a replay controversy. An umpire was almost crushed. A ball boy nearly fell on his face and Willis offered an assortment of fist pumps and gestures that empowered the crowd.
But as we suspected, the No. 772 player in the world, who so captured our imaginations, had just so much up his sleeve. And after a final Willis backhand approach shot flew long, the teaching pro took off his headband in resignation. His improbable dream was over. The $33-an-hour teacher from the Warwick Rowing Club was done. Federer had sunk his ship 6-0, 6-3, 6-4, and tomorrow Willis just might go ahead and play his scheduled match in the Coventry League.
All this didn’t stop Willis from walking out on Centre Court to applaud the crowd that so adored him, their beloved underdog who’d fought hard but had really never had a chance.
“I still have a lot of learning to do,” Willis confided. “I can hold my head up high. I have a lot to be proud of. There is a lot of life after Wimbledon. I am just going to keep my head down and keep working. But I am actually exhausted. It was all just a blur, it was amazing…But now I’m going to have a beer.”
