There can't be many sports where you know the name of the world number 772 but this week Marcus Willis turned himself into a cult hero when he faced perhaps the greatest tennis star ever on Wimbledon's illustrious centre court. And now we like him even more!
The Brit made a name for himself after coming through six rounds of qualifying and the first round against a player ranked 54th in world to book a centre court match with Roger Federer. Unsurprisingly he lost in straight sets but the story captured the hearts of the nation.
And the 25 year-old Englishman is set to win a lot more people over, especially in Liverpool. Willis is a lifelong fan fan of The Reds and so when the previously unknown tennis player was approached by The Sun newspaper to wear their branding to court for £15,000 he turned the offer down despite having no previous sponsorship deal.
Willis picked up £50,000 for his exploits at the All England club so maybe didn't need the cash on offer from the newspaper however before the SW19 adventure he'd made just £220 in prize money all year and he will be returning to the Challenger tour soon where money is no where near the £50k mark.
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Rather than take The Sun's money, on wonderful principle, Willis stepped on court with a lack of branding and that has to be applauded. After the match he was upbeat despite losing, saying "If I'm playing quite well and competing with Roger Federer for a couple of sets, I'm doing the right thing."
The day after he was knocked out of Wimbledon he was back playing a club match in Coventry. Well played all round Marcus!