Marcus Willis one step away from reviving Wimbledon dream

One of the best things about Roehampton is that it is essentially park tennis. Stray balls occasionally bounce over from other courts, forcing the point to be replayed. Well-timed smashes lodge in the chain-link fencing, just like at your local court. We are three miles and two qualifying matches from the hallowed lawns of the All-England Club, and while the crowds are small, the stakes are as big as they come. 

It is not just ranking points and prize money being contested in the south-west London suburbs. The £35,000 available for reaching the Wimbledon main draw can make or break a season. Meanwhile, the prospect of playing at the most famous tournament of them all can make or break a career. 

Twelve months ago, Marcus Willis was one of the lucky ones. After fighting through six rounds of qualifying to make the Wimbledon main draw, he won his first round match to set up a clash with Roger Federer on Centre Court. Now, after beating fellow Briton Liam Broady 7-6 6-7 6-2, he is one match away from returning.

Plenty has changed for Willis in the year since he became one of the fleeting celebrities that British tennis throws up every so often at this time of year. For a start, he is ranked around 400 places higher at No374. Despite losing seven per cent of his body fat in the last year, he still carries a little timber with him; Willis is a finely-sculpted athlete, but more in the Henry Moore rather than the Giacometti sense. 

But in many ways, this is simply part of his everyman appeal. Willis, a 26-year-old who used to drink cans of Pepsi during changeovers, plays for all of us; the chancers, the couch potatoes, the dreamers. It was standing room only on Court 11 on Wednesday, and the warm reception he received was merely further evidence of his broad - no pun intended - base of support.

He took the first set on a tie-break, only to see Broady - another left-handed British cult hero of Wimbledons past - break early in the second. But Willis is a mighty awkward opponent on this surface, with his unpredictable lefty angles, his awkward low slice, his mercurial touch around the net. Willis lost the second set on a tie-break but broke early in the third and just about held on. 

This is the dream that draws them all in, old and young, household name and rank unknown. It was a decent day for the Brits - Alex Ward, Jay Clarke and Katy Dunne all lived to fight another day, although four other British women went out.

Youngsters arrive from every corner of the globe, transfixed by distant visions. World No182 Nicolas Jarry has come from Chile, a country with no grass courts at all, but after playing a warm-up tournament in Ilkley, he is one match away from the Wimbledon main draw. “I grew up on clay courts at altitude,” he says. “It’s totally different here. Sometimes you win the point by not doing anything, really. Just slice it, and the court does the rest.

“For most of the Chilean players, the best tournament is Roland-Garros. But for me, it’s this. I came here for the first time in 2005 with my grandfather. I was 10 years old, I saw Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, and in my head I really wanted to be like them. That’s where it all started.”

For some players, the dream is beginning to fade. Benjamin Becker of Germany is 36 years old, and has slipped from a career high of No35 in the world to No228. Against Iliya Marchenko of Ukraine, he lets slip three match points in the second set, only to lose the match in a tight third. 

Afterwards, with little warning, and just your correspondent for company, he abruptly retires.

“This was my last match,” he announces. “I already knew I was going to retire after this match. But retiring after this kind of match? That’s going to be tough. Right now, I’m just really angry.”

In 2006, Becker famously ended Andre Agassi’s career at Arthur Ashe Stadium, beating him in his final US Open. Now, his own career ends under grey skies, in front of a couple of dozen spectators in the borough of Wandsworth. How does he reflect? “It’s a tough time to answer this,” he replies. “I’m sorry. I could give you a really nice, elaborate answer on all this stuff. But right now, I’m so p---ed off, I can’t give you one.”

Becker may not return, but plenty of others will. For the winners like Willis, one final test lies in wait on Thursday. For the losers, there is always another year, and in 12 months’ time many will be back on this humble patch of London turf, in search of a dream.