Tennis teacher ranked 772nd wins at Wimbledon; Federer next
Tennis teacher ranked 772nd wins at Wimbledon; Federer next
LONDON (AP) — Marcus Willis originally was scheduled to spend Monday teaching tennis to a group of 5-to-10-year-old kids, among others, at Warwick Boat Club in central England.
[...] Willis wound up with grander, and more lucrative, plans: playing — and winning! — a match at Wimbledon.
[...] on Wednesday, Willis' students will need to find a substitute yet again, because he will be busy at the All England Club, standing across the net from none other than Roger Federer in the second round.
There were ho-hum straight-set victories for past champions Federer, Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams, for example, and a half-dozen exits by lower-seeded players.
Fast-forward to this month, when he was the last man invited to participate in a playoff for British players to earn a wild card into Wimbledon qualifying.
[...] the left-handed serve-and-volleyer defeated Berankis by saving 19 of 20 break points and hitting 14 aces while using what he describes as an "unorthodox" mix of spins.
Next up is Federer, whose record 17 Grand Slam titles include a record-tying seven at the All England Club.