Introducing Wimbledon wonder boy and British hero Marcus Willis

Marcus Willis is the the new British hero at SW19 The tennis player is ranked 772 in the world and has just lost his dream second round clash against Roger Federer at Wimbledon on WednesdayWillis booked his 2nd round clas with the Fedex after beating world number 54 Ricardas BerankisWillis success at Wimbledon comes at a time when the nation is grieving from the national football teams exit from Euro 2016And no for all the geniuses out there HE IS NOT RELATED TO BRUCE WILLISThe unheralded Willis defeated Berankis 63 63 64 on day One of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club to become the talking point in BritainHe may have lost toWorld number three and 17time Grand Slam winner 060 363 46 but he won hearts at the Centre CourtBestDayEver willyonarampage bulldogs fightA photo posted by Marcus Willis willbomb90 onJun 27 2016 at 1156pm PDTSo who is this Marcus Willisawaydays montpellier dreamteam fit ethu00c2u009fu00c2u0090cedilA photo posted by Marcus Willis willbomb90 onMay 28 2016 at 259pm PDTThe 25yearold had almost abandoned his pro career earlier in 2016 but was convinced to carry on by his girlfriend dentist Jenny BateHe was charging 30 pounds an hour for private lessons and pondering a transAtlantic move to coach in Philadelphia this yearWillis reached the third round of the Wimbledon boys tournament in 2007 and 2008His career earnings when he arrived at Wimbledon were under 100000By getting to the second round Willis is guaranteed at least 65000He coaches at Warwick Boat Club as well as a playing club tennis in France and GermanyWillis has earned just pound258 this season on the tennis circuit He still lives with his parentsWillis attended Forest School in WinnershHe is ranked behind 22 other Britons in the domestic rankingsHis ranking of 772 in the world means only fellow qualifier Albano Olivetti 791 has a lower ranking It means the duo are the lowestranked players to qualify for a Grand Slam since 1998Willis used to be overweight He listed his weight in November 2014 as 115 kilograms He has since lost 30kgAmericans nicknamed him Cartman after the bigboned character in the satirical cartoon South Park He took to calling himself Cartman on Twitter and would used the hashtag tubsterWillis came through six rounds of qualifying to earn his debut at the All England ClubHaving come from Wokingham Willis supports Reading Football ClubWillis first club was Latika in BerkshireHe started playing tennis from the age of nineBefore picking up tennis he was a badminton player and even played at a national levelWillis known to his friends as Willbomb trained with world No 2 Andy Murray at the junior levelMarcus Willisethu00c2u009fu00c2u0098u00c2u0084ethu00c2u009fu00c2u0098u00c2u0084ethu00c2u009fu00c2u0098u00c2u0084ethu00c2u009fu00c2u0098u00c2u0084ethu00c2u009fu00c2u0098u00c2u0084ethu00c2u009fu00c2u0098u00c2u0084 how good is thatmdash Andy Murray andy_murray June 27 2016In 2014 Willis had set up a pledge web page in order to raise money to fund his career In his own words my ultimate dream is to play at Wimbledon He set 2015 as his target date and raised pound2185 and even though it is a year late he realised his dreamWillis admitted he was an overweight loser and was seeing off pints three years agoThe 25yearold is the lowestranked qualifier to reach the second round at a Grand Slam since number 923 Jared Palmer at the 1988 US OpenNo 775 Marcus Willis is lowestranked man not using PR to play singles Wimbledon since No 1049 Mahesh Bhupathi was a WC entry in 2000mdash ITF ITF_Tennis June 24 2016Willis is also the lowestranked player to reach the second round at Wimbledon since number 861 Tommy Haas in 2015 In the first round Haas defeated number 86 Dusan Lajovic who was ranked 775 places higher By contrast Willis opponent on Monday number 54 Ricardas Berankis was ranked 718 places higherRained off today back at it again tomorrow Having a blast willyadventures wimby fightA photo posted by Marcus Willis willbomb90 onJun 23 2016 at 322am PDTWillis earned a wild card into mens singles qualifying after winning the LTA Wimbledon wild card playoff The last time a British wildcard into mens singles qualifying reached the second round of the main draw was number 661 Chris Eaton in 2008 He beat number 114 Boris Pashanski before losing to Dmitry Tursunov That was also the last time that any British qualifier won a main draw mens singles matchHappy Birthday to my wonderful Mum Thank you for being you have a blast as Im sure you will you nutter Love you XxxxxA photo posted by Marcus Willis willbomb90 onFeb 23 2016 at 714pm PSTWillis has already achieved one of his ambitions meeting 2001 champion Goran Ivanisevic