What became of Marcus Willis?

For once, the tennis court was not a lonely place as Marcus Willis. This summer’s darling of Wimbledon embraced the warmth of support he was missing for so many years.

Yet he still retains the clarity of thought to use his own 15 minutes of fame to emphasise how the life of a professional sportsperson is rarely so glamorous. 

Willis, the 26-year-old from Slough, has nothing but good memories from the feel-good story he created at Wimbledon – as the world No 772 he embarked on a seven-match winning streak that landed him a second-round tie against the mighty Roger Federer.

“The lob was an amazing point, it’s nice to look back on that,” he exclusively told Sky Sports in a rare moment of self-appreciation, remembering the moment he deftly guided the ball over Federer’s head to the clamour of his home crowd.

“But I’d sacrifice that to win the match. I came out of the match disappointed. The first day after the match, I didn’t want to speak to anyone. I could have played better – I had break points but didn’t take them.”

Willis has a degree of embarrassment when discussing his 6-0 6-3 6-4 defeat to Federer (he hit nine aces and earned a personal-best pay day of £50,000) because it clouds what he believes to be the true story behind his career.

“I had too many pints, and ate too much,” he said. “I’m a big guy anyway but I was massive – too massive to play tennis. I made some bad choices. I don’t blame anyone for me being out of shape. I was very close to giving up. I was going to America for a couple of years to save up, but if I came back in a couple of years… I …

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