Marcus Willis | |
Country: | Great Britain |
Birth Date: | 1990 10, df=yes |
Birth Place: | Slough, Berkshire, England |
Height: | 1.91 m |
Turnedpro: | 2007 |
Retired: | 2021 (singles) |
Plays: | Left-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Coach: | Matt Smith |
Careerprizemoney: | $290,115 |
Singlesrecord: | 1–1 |
Singlestitles: | 0 |
Highestsinglesranking: | No. 322 (16 June 2014) |
Wimbledonresult: | 2R (2016) |
Doublesrecord: | 2–2 |
Doublestitles: | 0 |
Highestdoublesranking: | No. 81 (28 October 2024) |
Currentdoublesranking: | No. 89 (2 December 2024) |
Wimbledondoublesresult: | 3R (2017) |
Mixed: | yes |
Mixedrecord: | 2–1 |
Mixedtitles: | 0 |
Wimbledonmixedresult: | QF (2024) |
Updated: | 2 December 2024 |
Marcus Willis (born 9 October 1990) is a British professional tennis player who currently specialises in doubles. He has a career high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 81, achieved on 28 October 2024.
Willis made his ATP tour debut at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships after qualifying for the main draw, where he gained recognition after playing against Roger Federer in the second round on Centre Court.
He has won 8 titles on the ATP Challenger Tour and 37 on the ITF World Tennis Tour from 68 career doubles finals. He has a record of 45 wins and 23 losses.
Willis also played touchtennis, in which he has a career-high ranking of No. 1 in singles, having won 13 singles and two doubles titles.[1]
Willis began playing tennis at the age of 9. His mother is a learning support assistant and his father is an accountant.[2] Willis attended St Paul's Primary School, Wokingham and The Forest School, Winnersh.[3] Willis is married to Jennifer Bate, an NHS dental surgeon and former beauty model whom he had met at a concert.[4]
Willis played his first junior match in April 2006 at the age of 15 at a grade 5 tournament in the UK. Throughout his junior career, he reached a high of No. 15 in the combined junior world rankings in September 2008 at posted a win–loss record of 92–36.[5]
Willis was sent home from the 2008 Australian Open by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) for his "slack attitude" when he missed the bus to a practice session and eventually arrived without rackets, having left them at his hotel.[6] [7]
Junior Slam results – Singles:
Australian Open: A (—)
French Open: 2R (2008)
Wimbledon: 3R (2007, 2008)
US Open: 2R (2008)
Junior Slam results – Doubles:
Australian Open: A (—)
French Open: 1R (2008)
Wimbledon: 2R (2007)
US Open: 2R (2008)
Willis officially turned pro in 2007 at the age of 17. Throughout 2007–2015, he made 14 ITF singles finals and 41 ITF doubles finals (winning 8 singles and 25 doubles). He only made one challenger final, the 2014 Charlottesville Challenger where he made the doubles final partnering Lewis Burton where they lost to top seed Treat Huey and Frederik Nielsen in three sets. He got a wildcard spot into the 2009 Wimbledon Qualifying where he lost in the second round and the 2014 Wimbledon Qualifying where he lost in the first round. He achieved a career-high ranking of 322 on June 16, 2014.
The only success for Willis in the first five months of 2016 was qualifying for the Tunisia Futures F1 in January, and progressing to the quarterfinals,[8] where he won $356.[7] His failure to defend the previous year's points led to his ranking falling to number 772 by the start of Wimbledon.[9]
Willis was considering his retirement in 2016 as he had just torn his hamstring and was offered a tennis teaching job in Philadelphia. His girlfriend, Jennifer Bate, convinced him to keep playing professional tennis and to give it one more try. He trained heavily throughout February to May to play his next event at Wimbledon qualifying.
Willis was awarded a spot into the qualifying draw after countryman David Rice withdrew. He won three matches to qualify for the main draw of the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, which included wins against future top-ten players Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.[10] In the first round, Willis upset Ričardas Berankis, a player ranked more than 700 places above him, to set up a clash with seven-time champion Roger Federer.[11] Willis was defeated by Federer 6 - 0, 6 - 3, 6 - 4 on Centre Court in the second round, receiving a standing ovation nevertheless.[12] The BBC later held a vote for the best shot made of the tournament,[13] and Willis's lob over Federer earned him the win.[14]
Injury prevented Willis from playing immediately after Wimbledon 2016, but he was given a wild card into qualifying for the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna over the weekend of October 22–23. He has also been invited to play Tie Break Tens at the same venue on Sunday 23 October, against Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem and Jo Wilfried Tsonga.[15]
His second tournament after Wimbledon was a Future in Kuwait which he won both the singles and the doubles.
Willis played few tournaments in the first half of 2017 due to injuries and becoming a father to his first child (a girl) but played in the Great Britain F1, F2 and F3, reaching the second round, semi-finals and finals respectively, winning $2283 overall. He then reached the quarter-finals of the U.S.A. F15 but lost in the first round of the Spain F14.[16] He then failed to qualify for the Challenger in Surbiton and then reached the second round of the Ilkley Challenger, losing to Sam Groth.
At the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, Willis lost in the final round of qualifying to Illya Marchenko in straight sets, although Willis had been hindered by a knee injury he suffered against fellow Brit Liam Broady in the previous round. Since he failed to defend his points from last years Wimbledon his ranking fell below number 500 in the world.[17]
In the Wimbledon doubles, he and partner Jay Clarke had been awarded a wild card for the main draw. In the opening round, they beat Jared Donaldson and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan after coming back from two sets to love.[18] They caused a big surprise by defeating the defending champions and second seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the next round, also in a five-setter.[19] Their run ended with a loss to Oliver Marach and Mate Pavić in the third round.[20]
Willis missed Wimbledon in singles after losing to Dan Evans in the pre-qualifying playoffs.[21] His final professional match was in the qualifying event for the 2018 Wimbledon doubles.[22] After Wimbledon, he played for the San Diego Aviators in the 2018 World TeamTennis league,[23] where the team narrowly missed the WTT finals.
He had continued to play doubles tournaments at Futures events since November 2020.[24]
His most recent participation in touchtennis dated back to September 2020,[25] prior to his return in 2022.
In March 2021, Willis announced he was retiring from the sport.
WIllis resumed playing doubles on the ITF tour from August 2022. Until May 2023, he won seven ITF 25k tournaments, six of them with partner Scott Duncan.[26] He then mainly plays on the ATP Challenger Tour. On 2 December 2023, he won his first ATP Challenger title in Maspalomas, again with partner Duncan.[27]
In January, Willis won his second doubles title on the ATP Challenger Tour in Oeiras, partnering Jay Clarke. Over the course of the next five months he went on to win another five Challenger titles including his first on grass at the Nottingham Open, partnering John Peers to a three set victory in the final.[28] As a result of winning the title he reached the top 100 in the doubles rankings on 17 June 2024.
Competing with doubles specialist Alicia Barnett at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, Willis went on to reach the Mixed doubles quarterfinals, losing to Santiago González and Giuliana Olmos in straight sets.[29]
In October he won his seventh challenger title of the season at the Taipei OEC Open, partnering David Stevenson to a straight sets victory.
Tournament | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | width=35 | SR! | width=35 | W–L |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||||||||
Wimbledon | A | Q2 | A | A | A | A | Q1 | A | 2R | Q3 | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | ||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
style=text-align:left | Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | ||
Year-end ranking | 965 | 606 | 609 | 729 | 962 | 350 | 365 | 474 | 441 | 598 | – |
Tournament | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | width=35 | SR! | width=35 | W–L |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Wimbledon | Q1 | Q1 | Q1 | A | A | A | Q1 | A | A | 3R | Q1 | A | NH | A | A | A | 1R | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | |||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||
style=text-align:left | Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | |||
Year-end ranking | – | 378 | 489 | 617 | 898 | 325 | 251 | 432 | 1052 | 230 | 750 | – | 1367 | 1470 | 446 | 166 | 89 |
Tournament | 2024 | 2025 | width=35 | SR! | width=35 | W–L |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||
Wimbledon | QF | 0 / 1 | 2–1 |
Finals by surface | |
---|---|
Hard (4–2) | |
Clay (3–0) | |
Grass (1–0) |
Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 0–1 | Charlottesville, United States | Hard (i) | Lewis Burton | Treat Huey Frederik Nielsen | 6–3, 3–6, [2–10] | ||
Win | 1–1 | Maspalomas, Spain | Clay | Scott Duncan | Théo Arribagé Sadio Doumbia | 7–6(7–5), 6–4 | ||
Win | 2–1 | Oeiras, Portugal | Hard (i) | Jay Clarke | Théo Arribagé Michael Geerts | 6–4, 6–7(9–11), [10–3] | ||
Loss | 2–2 | Oeiras, Portugal | Hard (i) | Arjun Kadhe | Karol Drzewiecki Piotr Matuszewski | 3–6, 4–6 | ||
Win | 3–2 | Glasgow, United Kingdom | Hard (i) | Scott Duncan | Kyle Edmund Henry Searle | 6–3, 6–2 | ||
Win | 4–2 | Lille, France | Hard (i) | Christian Harrison | Titouan Droguet Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard | 7–6(8–6), 6–3 | ||
Win | 5–2 | Savannah, United States | Clay | Christian Harrison | Simon Freund Johannes Ingildsen | 6–3, 6–3 | ||
Win | 6–2 | Tunis, Tunisia | Clay | Federico Agustín Gómez | Patrik Rikl Michael Vrbenský | 4–6, 6–1, [10–6] | ||
Win | 7–2 | Nottingham, United Kingdom | Grass | John Peers | Harold Mayot Luke Saville | 6–1, 6–7(1–7), [10–7] | ||
Win | 8–2 | Taipei, Taiwan | Hard (i) | David Stevenson | Nam Ji-sung Joshua Paris | 6–3, 6–3 |
Finals by surface | |
---|---|
Hard (7–7) | |
Clay (1–0) | |
Grass (1–0) |
Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 0–1 | Great Britain F16, Glasgow | Hard (i) | Dan Evans | 2–6, 1–3 ret. | ||
Win | 1–1 | Great Britain F1, Glasgow | Hard (i) | Josh Goodall | 6–4, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 1–2 | Great Britain F6, Shrewsbury | Hard (i) | Dan Evans | 6–7(3–7), 6–7(1–7) | ||
Win | 2–2 | Great Britain F14, Felixstowe | Grass | Neil Pauffley | 6–2, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 2–3 | Great Britain F17, Wrexham | Hard | Daniel Cox | 2–6, 3–6 | ||
Loss | 2–4 | Kuwait F2, Mishref | Hard | Ivo Klec | 6–3, 1–6, 4–6 | ||
Win | 3–4 | Kuwait F3, Mishref | Hard | Tak Khunn Wang | 6–3, 6–2 | ||
Loss | 3–5 | Thailand F3, Nonthaburi | Hard | Chung Hyeon | 2–6, 4–6 | ||
Win | 4–5 | Great Britain F8, Tipton | Hard (i) | Sam Barry | 7–6(7–4), 6–4 | ||
Win | 5–5 | Great Britain F10, Edinburgh | Clay | Neil Pauffley | 6–1, 6–3 | ||
Loss | 5–6 | Great Britain F15, London | Hard | Frederik Nielsen | 6–2, 4–6, 4–6 | ||
Win | 6–6 | Spain F27, Madrid | Hard | Mick Lescure | 6–3, 6–2 | ||
Win | 7–6 | Spain F11, Móstoles | Hard | Jorge Hernando-Ruano | 6–7(14–16), 6–3, 7–6(10–8) | ||
Win | 8–6 | Egypt F20, Sharm El Sheikh | Hard | Julien Dubail | 7–5, 6–7(8–10), 7–5 | ||
Win | 9–6 | Kuwait F3, Mishref | Hard | Daniel Altmaier | 6–3, 7–6(10–8) | ||
Loss | 9–7 | Great Britain F3, Shrewsbury | Hard (i) | Oscar Otte | 5–7, 6–7(4–7) |
Finals by surface | |
---|---|
Hard (27–17) | |
Clay (6–3) | |
Grass (2–1) | |
Carpet (2–0) |
Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loss | 0–1 | France F2, Feucherolles | Hard (i) | Dan Evans | Olivier Charroin Nicolas Tourte | 3–6, 4–6 | ||
Win | 1–1 | Great Britain F6, Edinburgh | Clay | Daniel Smethurst | Richard Gabb Ashley Hewitt | 6–7(3–7), 6–3, [14–12] | ||
Loss | 1–2 | Great Britain F9, Frinton | Grass | Neil Pauffley | Tristan Farron-Mahon Colin O'Brien | 7–6(7–5), 6–7(3–7), [6–10] | ||
Loss | 1–3 | Belgium F2, Koksijde | Clay | Alexander Ward | Rabie Chaki Frederic De Fays | 3–6, 2–6 | ||
Win | 2–3 | Italy F28, Porto Torres | Hard | Vasek Pospisil | Alessandro Giannessi Francesco Piccari | 4–6, 6–3, [10–8] | ||
Loss | 2–4 | Italy F29, Alghero | Hard | Vasek Pospisil | Federico Gaio Alessandro Giannessi | 2–6, 5–7 | ||
Loss | 2–5 | Great Britain F6, Edinburgh | Clay | Barry King | James Cluskey Colin O'Brien | 3–6, 3–6 | ||
Loss | 2–6 | Great Britain F7, Newcastle | Clay | Maniel Bains | Ignacio Coll Riudavets Gerard Granollers | 1–6, 4–6 | ||
Loss | 2–7 | Great Britain F14, Nottingham | Hard | Sean Thornley | Lewis Burton Dan Evans | 5–7, 6–1, [11–13] | ||
Win | 3–7 | Greece F3, Heraklion | Carpet | Daniel Glancy | Sam Barry Colin O'Brien | 7–5, 5–7, [10–8] | ||
Loss | 3–8 | Great Britain F3, Tipton | Hard (i) | Miles Bugby | Chris Eaton Josh Goodall | 2–6, 2–6 | ||
Win | 4–8 | Great Britain F14, Roehampton | Hard | Josh Goodall | Lewis Burton James Marsalek | 6–3, 5–7, [10–5] | ||
Win | 5–8 | Great Britain F15, Nottingham | Hard | Josh Goodall | David Rice Sean Thornley | 6–4, 7–6(8–6) | ||
Win | 6–8 | Great Britain F9, Manchester | Grass | Josh Goodall | Tom Burn Dan Evans | 6–2, 7–6(7–3) | ||
Win | 7–8 | Great Britain F10, Edinburgh | Clay | Matthew Short | Richard Gabb Jonny O'Mara | 4–6, 6–4, [10–8] | ||
Win | 8–8 | Great Britain F17, Wrexham | Hard | George Coupland | Liam Broady Joshua Ward-Hibbert | 7–6(8–6), 6–3 | ||
Win | 9–8 | Great Britain F18, Sheffield | Hard | Lewis Burton | Richard Bloomfield Daniel Cox | 6–1, 6–1 | ||
Win | 10–8 | Great Britain F19, Roehampton | Hard | Lewis Burton | Edward Corrie Joshua Ward-Hibbert | 4–6, 6–4, [10–8] | ||
Win | 11–8 | Kuwait F1, Mishref | Hard | Lewis Burton | Patrick Davidson Saketh Myneni | 6–4, 7–5 | ||
Loss | 11–9 | Kuwait F2, Mishref | Hard | Lewis Burton | Ruan Roelofse Tak Khunn Wang | 6–4, 3–6, [6–10] | ||
Win | 12–9 | Kuwait F3, Mishref | Hard | Lewis Burton | Thomas Statzberger Sam Weissborn | 6–2, 6–2 | ||
Win | 13–9 | Great Britain F22, Tipton | Hard (i) | Lewis Burton | Graeme Dyce Calum Gee | 7–6(7–0), 6–2 | ||
Win | 14–9 | Greece F20, Rethymno | Hard | Lewis Burton | Nikola Čačić Alexandros Jakupovic | 6–4, 7–6(7–5) | ||
Win | 15–9 | Israel F1, Eilat | Hard | Lewis Burton | Shonigmatjon Shofayziyev Anton Zaitcev | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 15–10 | Israel F2, Eilat | Hard | Lewis Burton | Huang Liang-chi Amir Weintraub | 3–6, 6–7(9–11) | ||
Win | 16–10 | Israel F3, Eilat | Hard | Lewis Burton | Claudio Grassi Amir Weintraub | 6–3, 7–5 | ||
Loss | 16–11 | Thailand F1, Nonthaburi | Hard | Lewis Burton | Yuichi Ito Hiroki Kondo | 6–3, 3–6, [8–10] | ||
Loss | 16–12 | Thailand F2, Nonthaburi | Hard | Lewis Burton | Chung Hyeon Nam Ji-sung | 4–6, 7–6(7–4), [7–10] | ||
Win | 17–12 | Thailand F3, Nonthaburi | Hard | Lewis Burton | Chung Hyeon Nam Ji-sung | 6–3, 7–5 | ||
Win | 18–12 | Great Britain F8, Tipton | Hard (i) | Lewis Burton | David Rice Sean Thornley | 4–6, 7–6(7–5), [10–6] | ||
Win | 19–12 | Great Britain F9, Bournemouth | Clay | Lewis Burton | Jake Eames Brydan Klein | 6–1, 7–5 | ||
Win | 20–12 | Great Britain F10, Edinburgh | Clay | Jonny O'Mara | Maverick Banes Gavin van Peperzeel | 7–6(7–3), 6–1 | ||
Win | 21–12 | Great Britain F11, Newcastle | Clay | Jonny O'Mara | Maverick Banes Gavin van Peperzeel | 7–6(10–8), 6–1 | ||
Loss | 21–13 | Spain F24, Pozoblanco | Hard | Lewis Burton | Edward Corrie David Rice | 4–6, 5–7 | ||
Win | 22–13 | Great Britain F2, Sunderland | Hard (i) | Lewis Burton | Isak Arvidsson Micke Kontinen | 6–3, 6–2 | ||
Loss | 22–14 | Great Britain F5, Shrewsbury | Hard (i) | Sean Thornley | Luke Bambridge Scott Clayton | 6–7(3–7), 4–6 | ||
Loss | 22–15 | Spain F11, Móstoles | Hard | José Checa Calvo | Juan-Samuel Arauzo Ivan Arenas-Gualda | 3–6, 7–5, [5–10] | ||
Win | 23–15 | Egypt F19, Sharm El Sheikh | Hard | Daniel Smethurst | Karim-Mohamed Maamoun Issam Haitham Taweel | 6–4, 6–4 | ||
Win | 24–15 | Egypt F20, Sharm El Sheikh | Hard | Daniel Smethurst | Karim Hossam Issam Haitham Taweel | 6–1, 6–3 | ||
Win | 25–15 | Great Britain F6, Frinton | Grass | Daniel Smethurst | Evan Hoyt Bradley Mousley | 6–4, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 25–16 | Sweden F4, Falun | Hard (i) | James Marsalek | David O'Hare Joe Salisbury | 3–6, 5–7 | ||
Win | 26–16 | Kuwait F3, Mishref | Hard | Daniel Altmaier | Roy Sarut De Valk Ronan Joncour | 6–1, 6–1 | ||
Loss | 26–17 | Great Britain F3, Shrewsbury | Hard (i) | Jack Molloy | Scott Clayton Luke Johnson | 6–3, 4–6, [6–10] | ||
Win | 27–17 | Portugal F17, Sintra | Hard | Edward Corrie | Yanais Laurent Maxime Tchoutakian | 6–1, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 27–18 | Great Britain F1, Glasgow | Hard (i) | Neil Pauffley | Matthias Haim Jakob Sude | 3–6, 7–6(7–5), [6–10] | ||
Win | 28–18 | Great Britain F3, Shrewsbury | Hard (i) | Scott Clayton | Harri Heliövaara Frederik Nielsen | 6–2, 7–5 | ||
Loss | 28–19 | France M25, Bagnères-de-Bigorre | Hard | James MacKinlay | Joris de Loore Yannick Mertens | 6–7(3–7), 7–6(8–6), [6–10] | ||
Win | 29–19 | Spain M25, Madrid | Clay | Scott Duncan | Lamine Ouahab Mohamed Nazim Makhlouf | 6–1, 6–3 | ||
Loss | 29–20 | France M25, Nevers | Hard (i) | Federico Agustín Gómez | Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg Antoine Hoang | 7–6(12–10), 6–7(5–7), [7–10] | ||
Win | 30–20 | France M25, Sarreguemines | Carpet (i) | Scott Duncan | Grégoire Jacq Arthur Bouquier | 4–6, 6–3, [10–8] | ||
Win | 31–20 | France M15, Villers-lès-Nancy | Hard (i) | Scott Duncan | Grégoire Jacq Arthur Bouquier | 6–1, 2–0 ret. | ||
Win | 32–20 | Great Britain M25, Sheffield | Hard (i) | Scott Duncan | Corentin Denolly Simon Freund | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
Win | 33–20 | Great Britain M25, Bath | Hard (i) | Scott Duncan | Ben Jones Daniel Little | 6–3, 6–4 | ||
Loss | 33–21 | Canada M25, Montreal | Hard (i) | Scott Duncan | Juan Carlos Aguilar Joe Tyler | 4–6, 7–5, [9–11] | ||
Win | 34–21 | Great Britain M25, Nottingham | Hard | Neil Oberleitner | August Holmgren Johannes Ingildsen | 7–6(7–1), 6–3 | ||
Win | 35–21 | Great Britain M25, Nottingham | Hard | Scott Duncan | Giles Hussey Ben Jones | 6–3, 6–2 | ||
Win | 36–21 | Great Britain M25, Sunderland | Hard (i) | David Stevenson | James Davis Joshua Goodger | 6–4, 7–6(7–3) | ||
Win | 37–21 | Great Britain M25, Sunderland | Hard (i) | David Stevenson | Dan Added Clément Chidekh | 4–6, 7–6(8–6), [10–8] |
width=150 | Partner | Opponents | Rank | Tournament | Surface | Rd | Score | Willis Rank | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | |||||||||||
1. | Jay Clarke | Nicolas Mahut Pierre-Hugues Herbert | style=text-align:center bgcolor=eee8aa | 4 7 | Wimbledon, United Kingdom | Grass | 2R | 3–6, 6–1, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 6–3 | style=text-align:center | 708 |