Daniel Darlington
06/07/2017
Marcus Willis definitely likes to savour his moment in the spotlight when it comes to Wimbledon.
Twelve months after the 26-year-old, then ranked 772 in the world, made headlines by coming through both qualifying and the opening round to take on Roger Federer on centre court, Willis was back on the famous grass courts again on Wednesday.
This time it was in the men's doubles via a wildcard after failing to repeat his singles qualification heroics last week but there was still plenty of entertainment.
Trailing by two sets to love to Jared Donaldson and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, he and partner Jay Clarke launched a resounding comeback to triumph 6-7 7-5 7-6 6-0 6-3 in three hours and 15 minutes, much to the delight of the home crowd.
They have only been playing together a few weeks but their understanding on court appears to be developing nicely with a likely second round match against French defending champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hughes Herbert.
"We never let our heads drop and that was a great fight," said the Slough-born player.
"We had a bathroom break at two sets down and I said 'we can win this, don't let our heads drop'.
"The atmosphere was awesome and we really fought hard for that. I'm buzzing and it's great to be involved again, it brought back lots of memories from last year.
"Coming back from two sets down in front of a packed crowd going crazy, it's what you dream about when you start playing tennis.
"Our first tournament was a few weeks ago, so it's all new. We've got a really good understanding of each other and that's exciting.
"We can't wait to get back out there. Every match is winnable - it's doubles. Yeah, they're obviously going to be the favourites. But we've got the skills to beat them.”
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