Willis back on the Wimbledon stage: 'This is what we dreamed of'

One year ago, Marcus Willis attended Wimbledon on the grass-court major’s opening Monday with a friend who had never been to the tournament before.

“I had great fun showing him around and stuff. But as a player you want to be back,” Willis told ATPTour.com. “I was 230 in the world last year. Not quite there. I hadn't done well enough in Challengers and I was disappointed not to be here. So naturally I was enjoying the tennis, I love Wimbledon. But that was a weird feeling I had of, ‘I'm not comfortable here’. But yeah, I'm comfortable again now.”

Willis, known for his dream run at The Championships in 2016 when he advanced from pre-qualifying to facing Roger Federer on Centre Court in the second round of the main draw, is back competing at The All England Club. Now No. 96 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings, Willis received a wild card into both men’s doubles (with Jay Clarke) and mixed doubles (with Alicia Barnett).

“It's been great. When I got the wild cards, I was really happy. Obviously, over the moon. It sort of didn't sink in for a couple of days, and then I got a little bit emotional about it,” Willis said. “It's been seven years since I last played here, I've come a long way very quickly.”

Two years ago Willis did not have a PIF ATP Doubles Rankings and now he is in the Top 100 and competing at SW19, where he first made his name.

“We lost our first round the other day [in men’s doubles]. We were in the match, and played two very good players. We were right with them and I was obviously disappointed after that,” Willis said of his loss with Clarke to Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson.

But a tennis folk hero of sorts returned to a massive stage on Sunday evening when he partnered Barnett past Ivan Dodig and Hao-Ching Chan in mixed doubles on No. 1 Court.

“I just said to myself, ‘This is what you wanted to do when you were a kid, go and play in front of a crowd’. I tell myself to just enjoy every day, try and get the most out of it,” Willis said. “It looked like [our match] was going to get canceled. We went out there, there's no pressure. I've worked hard on the practice court. I've still got to lose a few kilos, but I'm working hard on that. I've come a long way. I'm going down not up. That was a lot of fun out there and we played great.”

More than ever, Willis loves playing tennis. The sport “means everything to him”. Before taking the court with Barnett, he delivered to her a message.

“This is what we dreamed of as kids, playing on courts like this. We've been given a chance, let's go and enjoy ourselves,” Willis told her. “And we played really well. They're a good pair those two. That's an understatement, they're a very good pair, they've won three Slams together.

“Every time I've been to Wimbledon, something amazing has happened. But as I said, I've got to get myself in slightly better shape. I've got to keep improving. These are the tournaments I want to be playing. And there's always things you can do better.”

In the short term, Willis is hoping to earn his way into next year’s Australian Open. It has been a great year for the Briton, and he is excited to keep his head down and continue working hard as he writes the newest chapter of his story.

“It was a really positive story back then and I'm trying to create a new story now,” Willis said. “I had a difficult few years in between and I've bounced back well. I'm trying to take things a day at a time and this won't sink in for a little bit. We've got to come back out and play again. I've gotten another chance to play at Wimbledon.

“Three years ago, I was retired, I was struggling, I was 115 kilos. I'd wake up in the morning and not see any positive sometimes and that's very much changed now. Tomorrow's a new day, I'll try and get the most out of that. I'll get myself in the gym or look to do something better, sort my body out and then we go again.”

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