Marcus Willis

Marcus Willis

Willis at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships
Country (sports)	Great Britain
Born	(1990-10-09) 9 October 1990 Slough, England, UK
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro	2007
Retired	2021 (singles)
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach	Matt Smith
Prize money	$256,646
Singles
Career record	1–1
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 322 (16 June 2014)
Grand Slam singles results
Wimbledon	2R (2016)
Doubles
Career record	2–1
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 119 (6 May 2024)
Current ranking	No. 119 (6 May 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon	3R (2017)
Last updated on: 6 May 2024.

Marcus Willis (born 9 October 1990) is a British professional tennis player. Willis made his 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.

Since August 2022, he has specialized in doubles. He has a career high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 119, achieved in May 2024.

Willis also plays touchtennis, in which he has a career-high ranking of No. 1 in singles, having won 13 singles and two doubles titles.

Personal life and junior career

Willis began playing tennis at the age of 9. His mother is a learning support assistant and his father is an accountant. Willis attended St Paul's Primary School, Wokingham and The Forest School, Winnersh. Willis is married to Jennifer Bate, an NHS dental surgeon and former beauty model whom he had met at a concert.

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.

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.

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)

Professional career

2007–2015

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.

2016: Wimbledon second round

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, where he won $356. His failure to defend the previous year's points led to his ranking falling to number 772 by the start of Wimbledon.

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 six matches to qualify for the main draw of the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, which included wins against Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev. 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. Willis was defeated by Federer 6–0, 6–3, 6–4 on Centre Court in the second round, receiving a standing ovation nevertheless. The BBC later held a vote for the best shot made of the tournament, and Willis's lob over Federer earned him the win.

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.

His second tournament after Wimbledon was a Future in Kuwait which he won both the singles and the doubles.

2017: Wimbledon doubles third round

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. 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.

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. 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. Their run ended with a loss to Oliver Marach and Mate Pavić in the third round.

2018–2020: Final years in singles

Willis missed Wimbledon in singles after losing to Dan Evans in the pre-qualifying playoffs. His final professional match was in the qualifying event for the 2018 Wimbledon doubles. After Wimbledon, he played for the San Diego Aviators in the 2018 World TeamTennis league, where the team narrowly missed the WTT finals.

He had continued to play doubles tournaments at Futures events since November 2020.

His most recent participation in touchtennis dated back to September 2020, prior to his return in 2022.

2021: Retirement

In March 2021, Willis announced he was retiring from the sport.

2022–2023: Doubles comeback

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. 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.

2024

In January, Willis won his second doubles title on the ATP Challenger Tour in Oeiras, partnering Jay Clarke.

Performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

Tournament	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Wimbledon	A	Q2	A	A	A	A	Q1	A	2R	Q3	A	0 / 1	1–1
Career statistics
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	–

Doubles

Tournament	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Wimbledon	Q1	Q1	Q1	A	A	A	Q1	A	A	3R	Q1	A	NH	A	A	A		0 / 1	2–1
Career statistics
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	0–0	2–1
Year-end ranking	–	378	489	617	898	325	251	432	1052	230	750	–	1367	1470	446	166

ATP Challenger finals

Doubles: 7 (5–2)

Finals by surface
Hard (3–2)
Clay (2–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Nov 2014	Charlottesville, United States	Hard (i)	Lewis Burton	Treat Huey Frederik Nielsen	6–3, 3–6, [2–10]
Win	1–1	Dec 2023	Maspalomas, Spain	Clay	Scott Duncan	Théo Arribagé Sadio Doumbia	7–6(7–5), 6–4
Win	2–1	Jan 2024	Oeiras, Portugal	Hard (i)	Jay Clarke	Théo Arribagé Michael Geerts	6–4, 6–7(9–11), [10–3]
Loss	2–2	Jan 2024	Oeiras, Portugal	Hard (i)	Arjun Kadhe	Karol Drzewiecki Piotr Matuszewski	3–6, 4–6
Win	3–2	Feb 2024	Glasgow, United Kingdom	Hard (i)	Scott Duncan	Kyle Edmund Henry Searle	6–3, 6–2
Win	4–2	Mar 2024	Lille, France	Hard (i)	Christian Harrison	Titouan Droguet Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard	7–6(8–6), 6–3
Win	5–2	Apr 2024	Savannah, United States	Clay	Christian Harrison	Simon Freund Johannes Ingildsen	6–3, 6–3

ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 16 (9–7)

Finals by surface
Hard (7–7)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (1–0)
Carpet (0–0)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Oct 2008	Great Britain F16, Glasgow	Hard (i)	Dan Evans	2–6, 1–3 ret.
Win	1–1	Jan 2013	Great Britain F1, Glasgow	Hard (i)	Josh Goodall	6–4, 6–4
Loss	1–2	Mar 2013	Great Britain F6, Shrewsbury	Hard (i)	Dan Evans	6–7(3–7), 6–7(1–7)
Win	2–2	Jul 2013	Great Britain F14, Felixstowe	Grass	Neil Pauffley	6–2, 6–4
Loss	2–3	Aug 2013	Great Britain F17, Wrexham	Hard	Daniel Cox	2–6, 3–6
Loss	2–4	Sep 2013	Kuwait F2, Mishref	Hard	Ivo Klec	6–3, 1–6, 4–6
Win	3–4	Oct 2013	Kuwait F3, Mishref	Hard	Tak Khunn Wang	6–3, 6–2
Loss	3–5	Mar 2014	Thailand F3, Nonthaburi	Hard	Chung Hyeon	2–6, 4–6
Win	4–5	Mar 2014	Great Britain F8, Tipton	Hard (i)	Sam Barry	7–6(7–4), 6–4
Win	5–5	May 2014	Great Britain F10, Edinburgh	Clay	Neil Pauffley	6–1, 6–3
Loss	5–6	Sep 2014	Great Britain F15, London	Hard	Frederik Nielsen	6–2, 4–6, 4–6
Win	6–6	Sep 2014	Spain F27, Madrid	Hard	Mick Lescure	6–3, 6–2
Win	7–6	May 2015	Spain F11, Móstoles	Hard	Jorge Hernando-Ruano	6–7(14–16), 6–3, 7–6(10–8)
Win	8–6	May 2015	Egypt F20, Sharm El Sheikh	Hard	Julien Dubail	7–5, 6–7(8–10), 7–5
Win	9–6	Nov 2016	Kuwait F3, Mishref	Hard	Daniel Altmaier	6–3, 7–6(10–8)
Loss	9–7	Feb 2017	Great Britain F3, Shrewsbury	Hard (i)	Oscar Otte	5–7, 6–7(4–7)

Doubles: 58 (37–21)

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	Feb 2009	France F2, Feucherolles	Hard (i)	Dan Evans	Olivier Charroin Nicolas Tourte	3–6, 4–6
Win	1–1	May 2009	Great Britain F6, Edinburgh	Clay	Daniel Smethurst	Richard Gabb Ashley Hewitt	6–7(3–7), 6–3, [14–12]
Loss	1–2	Jul 2009	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	Aug 2009	Belgium F2, Koksijde	Clay	Alexander Ward	Rabie Chaki Frederic De Fays	3–6, 2–6
Win	2–3	Sep 2009	Italy F28, Porto Torres	Hard	Vasek Pospisil	Alessandro Giannessi Francesco Piccari	4–6, 6–3, [10–8]
Loss	2–4	Sep 2009	Italy F29, Alghero	Hard	Vasek Pospisil	Federico Gaio Alessandro Giannessi	2–6, 5–7
Loss	2–5	May 2010	Great Britain F6, Edinburgh	Clay	Barry King	James Cluskey Colin O'Brien	3–6, 3–6
Loss	2–6	May 2010	Great Britain F7, Newcastle	Clay	Maniel Bains	Ignacio Coll Riudavets Gerard Granollers	1–6, 4–6
Loss	2–7	Sep 2010	Great Britain F14, Nottingham	Hard	Sean Thornley	Lewis Burton Dan Evans	5–7, 6–1, [11–13]
Win	3–7	Oct 2010	Greece F3, Heraklion	Carpet	Daniel Glancy	Sam Barry Colin O'Brien	7–5, 5–7, [10–8]
Loss	3–8	Mar 2011	Great Britain F3, Tipton	Hard (i)	Miles Bugby	Chris Eaton Josh Goodall	2–6, 2–6
Win	4–8	Sep 2011	Great Britain F14, Roehampton	Hard	Josh Goodall	Lewis Burton James Marsalek	6–3, 5–7, [10–5]
Win	5–8	Sep 2011	Great Britain F15, Nottingham	Hard	Josh Goodall	David Rice Sean Thornley	6–4, 7–6(8–6)
Win	6–8	Jul 2012	Great Britain F9, Manchester	Grass	Josh Goodall	Tom Burn Dan Evans	6–2, 7–6(7–3)
Win	7–8	May 2013	Great Britain F10, Edinburgh	Clay	Matthew Short	Richard Gabb Jonny O'Mara	4–6, 6–4, [10–8]
Win	8–8	Aug 2013	Great Britain F17, Wrexham	Hard	George Coupland	Liam Broady Joshua Ward-Hibbert	7–6(8–6), 6–3
Win	9–8	Sep 2013	Great Britain F18, Sheffield	Hard	Lewis Burton	Richard Bloomfield Daniel Cox	6–1, 6–1
Win	10–8	Sep 2013	Great Britain F19, Roehampton	Hard	Lewis Burton	Edward Corrie Joshua Ward-Hibbert	4–6, 6–4, [10–8]
Win	11–8	Sep 2013	Kuwait F1, Mishref	Hard	Lewis Burton	Patrick Davidson Saketh Myneni	6–4, 7–5
Loss	11–9	Sep 2013	Kuwait F2, Mishref	Hard	Lewis Burton	Ruan Roelofse Tak Khunn Wang	6–4, 3–6, [6–10]
Win	12–9	Oct 2013	Kuwait F3, Mishref	Hard	Lewis Burton	Thomas Statzberger Sam Weissborn	6–2, 6–2
Win	13–9	Oct 2013	Great Britain F22, Tipton	Hard (i)	Lewis Burton	Graeme Dyce Calum Gee	7–6(7–0), 6–2
Win	14–9	Nov 2013	Greece F20, Rethymno	Hard	Lewis Burton	Nikola Čačić Alexandros Jakupovic	6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Win	15–9	Jan 2014	Israel F1, Eilat	Hard	Lewis Burton	Shonigmatjon Shofayziyev Anton Zaitcev	6–3, 6–4
Loss	15–10	Jan 2014	Israel F2, Eilat	Hard	Lewis Burton	Huang Liang-chi Amir Weintraub	3–6, 6–7(9–11)
Win	16–10	Jan 2014	Israel F3, Eilat	Hard	Lewis Burton	Claudio Grassi Amir Weintraub	6–3, 7–5
Loss	16–11	Feb 2014	Thailand F1, Nonthaburi	Hard	Lewis Burton	Yuichi Ito Hiroki Kondo	6–3, 3–6, [8–10]
Loss	16–12	Feb 2014	Thailand F2, Nonthaburi	Hard	Lewis Burton	Chung Hyeon Nam Ji-sung	4–6, 7–6(7–4), [7–10]
Win	17–12	Mar 2014	Thailand F3, Nonthaburi	Hard	Lewis Burton	Chung Hyeon Nam Ji-sung	6–3, 7–5
Win	18–12	Mar 2014	Great Britain F8, Tipton	Hard (i)	Lewis Burton	David Rice Sean Thornley	4–6, 7–6(7–5), [10–6]
Win	19–12	Apr 2014	Great Britain F9, Bournemouth	Clay	Lewis Burton	Jake Eames Brydan Klein	6–1, 7–5
Win	20–12	May 2014	Great Britain F10, Edinburgh	Clay	Jonny O'Mara	Maverick Banes Gavin van Peperzeel	7–6(7–3), 6–1
Win	21–12	May 2014	Great Britain F11, Newcastle	Clay	Jonny O'Mara	Maverick Banes Gavin van Peperzeel	7–6(10–8), 6–1
Loss	21–13	Aug 2014	Spain F24, Pozoblanco	Hard	Lewis Burton	Edward Corrie David Rice	4–6, 5–7
Win	22–13	Jan 2015	Great Britain F2, Sunderland	Hard (i)	Lewis Burton	Isak Arvidsson Micke Kontinen	6–3, 6–2
Loss	22–14	Mar 2015	Great Britain F5, Shrewsbury	Hard (i)	Sean Thornley	Luke Bambridge Scott Clayton	6–7(3–7), 4–6
Loss	22–15	May 2015	Spain F11, Móstoles	Hard	José Checa Calvo	Juan-Samuel Arauzo Ivan Arenas-Gualda	3–6, 7–5, [5–10]
Win	23–15	May 2015	Egypt F19, Sharm El Sheikh	Hard	Daniel Smethurst	Karim-Mohamed Maamoun Issam Haitham Taweel	6–4, 6–4
Win	24–15	May 2015	Egypt F20, Sharm El Sheikh	Hard	Daniel Smethurst	Karim Hossam Issam Haitham Taweel	6–1, 6–3
Win	25–15	Jul 2015	Great Britain F6, Frinton	Grass	Daniel Smethurst	Evan Hoyt Bradley Mousley	6–4, 6–4
Loss	25–16	Sep 2015	Sweden F4, Falun	Hard (i)	James Marsalek	David O'Hare Joe Salisbury	3–6, 5–7
Win	26–16	Nov 2016	Kuwait F3, Mishref	Hard	Daniel Altmaier	Roy Sarut De Valk Ronan Joncour	6–1, 6–1
Loss	26–17	Feb 2017	Great Britain F3, Shrewsbury	Hard (i)	Jack Molloy	Scott Clayton Luke Johnson	6–3, 4–6, [6–10]
Win	27–17	Aug 2017	Portugal F17, Sintra	Hard	Edward Corrie	Yanais Laurent Maxime Tchoutakian	6–1, 6–4
Loss	27–18	Feb 2018	Great Britain F1, Glasgow	Hard (i)	Neil Pauffley	Matthias Haim Jakob Sude	3–6, 7–6(7–5), [6–10]
Win	28–18	Feb 2018	Great Britain F3, Shrewsbury	Hard (i)	Scott Clayton	Harri Heliövaara Frederik Nielsen	6–2, 7–5
Loss	28–19	Sep 2022	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	Sep 2022	Spain M25, Madrid	Clay	Scott Duncan	Lamine Ouahab Mohamed Nazim Makhlouf	6–1, 6–3
Loss	29–20	Oct 2022	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	Oct 2022	France M25, Sarreguemines	Carpet (i)	Scott Duncan	Grégoire Jacq Arthur Bouquier	4–6, 6–3, [10–8]
Win	31–20	Nov 2022	France M15, Villers-lès-Nancy	Hard (i)	Scott Duncan	Grégoire Jacq Arthur Bouquier	6–1, 2–0 ret.
Win	32–20	Jan 2023	Great Britain M25, Sheffield	Hard (i)	Scott Duncan	Corentin Denolly Simon Freund	6–3, 6–4
Win	33–20	Feb 2023	Great Britain M25, Bath	Hard (i)	Scott Duncan	Ben Jones Daniel Little	6–3, 6–4
Loss	33–21	Mar 2023	Canada M25, Montreal	Hard (i)	Scott Duncan	Juan Carlos Aguilar Joe Tyler	4–6, 7–5, [9–11]
Win	34–21	Apr 2023	Great Britain M25, Nottingham	Hard	Neil Oberleitner	August Holmgren Johannes Ingildsen	7–6(7–1), 6–3
Win	35–21	May 2023	Great Britain M25, Nottingham	Hard	Scott Duncan	Giles Hussey Ben Jones	6–3, 6–2
Win	36–21	Nov 2023	Great Britain M25, Sunderland	Hard (i)	David Stevenson	James Davis Joshua Goodger	6–4, 7–6(7–3)
Win	37–21	Jan 2024	Great Britain M25, Sunderland	Hard (i)	David Stevenson	Dan Added Clément Chidekh	4–6, 7–6(8–6), [10–8]

Wins over top 10 players

Doubles

#	Partner	Opponents	Rank	Tournament	Surface	Rd	Score	Willis Rank
2017
1.	Jay Clarke	Nicolas Mahut Pierre-Hugues Herbert	4 7	Wimbledon, United Kingdom	Grass	2R	3–6, 6–1, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 6–3	708

Record against top-10 players

Willis' match record against players who have been ranked in the Top 10.

Player	Record	Win %	Hard	Clay	Grass	Last Match
Number 1 ranked players
Daniil Medvedev	1–0	100%	–	–	1–0	Won (3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–4) at 2016 Wimbledon Q3
Roger Federer	0–1	0%	–	–	0–1	Lost (0–6, 3–6, 4–6) at 2016 Wimbledon 2R
Number 5 ranked players
Andrey Rublev	1–0	100%	–	–	1–0	Won (7–5, 6–4) at 2016 Wimbledon Q2
Rainer Schüttler	0–1	0%	–	–	0–1	Lost (5–7, 3–6) at 2011 Eastbourne Q2
Number 9 ranked players
Alex de Minaur	0–1	0%	–	–	0–1	Lost (6–4, 3–6, 1–6) at 2017 Surbiton Q2
Total	2–3	40%	0–0	0–0	2–3

External links

• Marcus Willis at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Marcus Willis at the International Tennis Federation