Marcus Willis in dreamland ahead of Wimbledon debut on Monday
Monday 27 June 2016 09:46, UK
Marcus Willis still finds it surreal that he has qualified for Wimbledon after almost giving up tennis earlier this year.
The world No 775, not even ranked inside the top 20 in Great Britain, came through six matches in qualifying and pre-qualifying to make it into the main draw.
He will take on Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania on Monday in the first round, with the winner more than likely to be taking on seven-time champion Roger Federer.
"It's ridiculous, really," Willis said. "I've been playing really well in league matches but I never thought in a million years I'd qualify for Wimbledon, not this year anyway.
"It's all surreal, the whole thing. I was last into pre-qualifying. Scott Clayton couldn't get back from Turkey to sign in and that would have bumped me out.
"I mix it up a lot. The last two guys I played, they like rhythm, they like pace, and I didn't give them any of that.
"I believe in God and I think he's put things in my life like that. This stuff just doesn't happen without something freakish."
Willis almost left the sport and moved to the United States at the start of 2016 but he was persuaded to rethink his decision by girlfriend Jenny Bate.
"At the start of this year I was in a really bad place, didn't want to get out of bed, couldn't find the motivation to do anything really. I was convinced I was going to stop," he added.
Instead, he took up a coaching role in Wokingham and started playing in the French and German league system, also making an appearance at a lower-level event in Tunisia.
But none of his results hinted that a six-match winning streak was on the cards, and now he can smile and joke when it comes to talking about the chance of playing against Federer.
After saying he had not even thought about meeting the Swiss great, he said with a broad smile: "Well I have thought about it, I'm not going to lie. I just completely lied to you there. It would be awesome."
