Marcus Willis’ great tale at the SW19 has finally come to a halt and the ceremonious farewell was carried out by none other than Roger Federer himself. The magnificent story of Marcus Willis, which began much before the tournament and has carried to the second round, saw its end as Roger Federer finished him off 6-0,6-3,6-4.
There could have been many a butterfly running in Marcus’ stomach as he had to gear up for the match of his life, and many a spectator’s life who had come to the Centre Court to watch this story unfold.
Even though the first set was a bagel, the scoreline is slightly misleading. Willis’ slice and left-handed shots did trouble Federer a bit and a wonderful rally involving lobs, slices, a slip-up too to go with it, brought the Wimbledon crowd to its feet and Willis was sucking it all in, in a very calm and composed manner.
We could also see his humorous part coming into play when just after the first set, Willis finally managed to win the first game of the match and raised his hands in celebration as if he had just won the game. That brought cheers and laughter upon the spectators. Even Roger had a bemused look on his face.
As Willis pulled one of his most favoured shot, the slice long, the crowd were up on its feet in celebration and Roger Federer pulled Willis for a warm hug, letting him take the acknowledgement which Marcus really deserves and almost as if he may have whispered in his ear, ‘Thanks for coming, Marcus.”
