Wimbledon 2016: Marcus Willis sets up Roger Federer showdown after stunning first-round win

MARCUS WILLIS pulled off one of the greatest shocks in Wimbledon history to earn a date with seven-time champ Roger Federer.

And world No 772 Willis joked: “I’m not sure he can play on grass. That’s good.”

Brit No 23 Willis beat world No 53 Ricardas Berankis 6-3 6-3 6-4. Willis, 25, said: “I get to play on a stadium court!

“This is what I dreamed of when I was younger.”

From an overweight loser sinking pints to the toast of Wimbledon — welcome to the wonderful world of Willis.

Britain’s 23rd best player according to rankings was due to be coaching kids at Warwick Boat Club on Monday afternoon.

Instead the 25-year-old gave world No 53 Ricardas Berankis a tennis lesson to earn a second-round clash with the king of SW19 — Roger Federer.

In a year of unlikely sporting stories, this is right up there.

After winning the very first top-level match of his career, Willis, 25, said: “I’ve always wanted to play at Wimbledon. I just never thought it would happen. When I was a junior, I was talented. I was bigged up a lot.

“Then I got dropped in the real world. I lost a lot of confidence and made some bad decisions. I went out too much, my lifestyle wasn’t good. I didn’t have the drive.

“Sort of two, three, four years ago, this was looking very unlikely. I was a bit of a loser. I was overweight. I was seeing off pints.

“I just looked myself in the mirror, I said: ‘You’re better than this.”

But even after working hard with his coach Matt Smith at Surbiton, Willis again found himself in the depths of despair.

Willis said: “Six months to a year ago, I was not very confident, to be honest. I kept getting injured, I tore my hamstring twice and hurt my knee earlier this year.

“It was a bit of a rough phase. I was down, struggling to get out of bed in the morning.”

But sometimes the stars just align.

If Willis had not gone to an Ellie Goulding concert at the O2 back in March, he would never have found himself in the bar where he met girlfriend Jenny.

She was the one who talked him out of taking a coaching job in Philadelphia and giving his playing career one more go.

So it seems only fair — except to her patients, maybe — that fate intervened to allow dentist Jenny to watch her man play the match of his life.

Willis said: “She sent me a message at half-ten this morning saying, ‘You won’t believe what’s happened, but I can make it.

“So weird. The equipment broke down where she worked, so she could make it.

“She had to cancel the afternoon patients. It’s completely weird. I’m glad she got to see that.”

Everyone who was on Court 17 will remember the match forever.

It was like an afternoon social, fuelled by Pimms and lager, crossed with a football match — no wonder Tim Henman’s dad left after three games.

But Willis’ supporters, who were so noisy that his friend Dan Evans playing next door had to stop playing, kept chanting all the way and eventually won over almost everyone.

When they sang “Shoes off if you love Willis” one more time before what turned out to be the final game, many of the five-deep crowd did just that.

Willis had himself responded to the song by lifting one of his spare trainers before the start, and then danced on to court to the first chorus of “Willbomb’s on fire, Berankis is terrified.”

Willis jumped into the stands to celebrate with them at the end, as well as embracing Jenny.

Another unexpected reward soon followed. Willis said: “Goran Ivanisevic just came around and shook my hand. He’s my hero.”

And now Willis will get to play another of his idols, seven-time champion Federer. So how would he compare their games?

Willis said: “Is he just a little bit better than me? I didn’t think I’d be answering these questions in a million years.

“He’s a complete player. He’s a legend of the game.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for him. But I’ve got to go out and try to beat him. That has to go out the window.

“It’s an amazing dream come true. I get to play on a stadium court. This is what I dreamed of when I was younger. I’m going to go out there and try to win.

“I probably won’t. I might not. But I'm going to give everything, as I have the last seven matches.”