A WOKINGHAM tennis player will today fulfil a lifelong dream when he walks out at Wimbledon.
Ranked 775 in the world, Marcus Willis only qualified for the famous tennis championships last week, after Scott Clayton withdrew from the Roehampton tournament.
His reward for the achievement is a first round match against Ricardas Berankis, from Lithuania, and ranked 53 in the world.
If Willis holds his nerve, he could end up facing Roger Federer on Centre Court.
It’s a long-held dream for the talented left-hander who has nearly quit. It was his girlfriend who managed to make him change his mind.
He told The Guardian: “The end of last year I tore my hamstring again after [playing in] America. Start of this year I was in a really bad place, didn’t want to get out of bed. Couldn’t find the motivation to do anything really. I was very close to packing it in.”
But he said that she made him think straight and carry on.
Now he is due to appear on Court 17 at the All England Club in one of the first matches of the ever-popular tournament.
Today’s order of play on Court 17:
Kurumi Nara (Jpn) v Madison Brengle (USA)
Brydan Klein (GB) v Nicolas Mahut (Fra)
Ricardas Berankis (Ltu) v Marcus Willis (GB)
