Willis vows to make it to Wimbledon next year

Bisham Abbey based Marcus Willis has vowed to start taking his chances after his dream of making the main draw at Wimbledon ended at the second wildcard qualifying stage in Roehampton last week.

The 18-year-old won an epic first round encounter with American world No.183 Amer Delic 7-6, 7-6 on Monday, but was no match for Italian Andrea Stoppini.

Slough-born Willis - who was one of just two Brits to make it through last week’s pre-qualifying rounds - lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 in the second round at the Bank of England Sports Club.

And despite beating off the nerves, the former British junior No.1 admitted he struggled to rediscover his opening match form against the big serving European.

“Ever since the first game I haven’t been able to really get my game going,” said Willis. “And it was hard starting off because it was quite windy.

“And once that happened the experience of my opponent meant that by the time I regained myself I had already lost the first set.

“Once you go 4-0 down on grass against a guy like Andrea it is pretty tough to work your way back into the match.

“In the second set I had a lot more chances to break but he served well on the big points and hung in there. I had a couple of chances but I went for them and missed them - and I need to start taking them.”

Willis reached the third round of Junior Wimbledon 12 months ago but won’t be seen at the All England Club at all this year after suffering heartache in the doubles as well.

The Berkshire teenager alongside fellow Brit Dan Smethurst crashed out to Mexican Santiago Gonzalez and American Travis Rettenmaier 7-6, 6-3 during the first round.

But Willis - who will travel to Norway for a Futures event as the Championships begin next week - has vowed to take heart from his attempts to make the draw at SW19.

“It was annoying to lose in the doubles because were we did well in the first set but didn’t quite have enough to push them all the way,” added Willis.

“But I have enjoyed the experience and I’ll go to Norway looking to do well. It will be hard because it will be a hard court tournament but I should come back for some grass ones.”

Life assurance and pensions company AEGON is lead partner of British Tennis and is backing the sport at all levels, from grass roots to world class tennis events. For tickets and further information visit www.lta.org.uk