WIMBLEDON, England — Roger Federer defeated Marcus Willis, 6-0, 6-3, 6-4, in the second round of Wimbledon on Wednesday in one of the most unlikely matchups in recent Grand Slam history.
Federer, the No. 3 seed, is a 17-time Grand Slam champion and has spent 302 weeks at No. 1. Centre Court, where he has won seven Wimbledon championships, is practically his second home. He has played 1,320 tour-level matches.
Willis is ranked 772nd and nearly quit professional tennis this year. He teaches tennis lessons at a boat club in Warwick, England. He had to win six matches in prequalifying and qualifying tournaments to get into the main draw, and had not played a tour-level match until this tournament.
But there they were, on Centre Court, throwing a kitchen sink of shots at each other, smiling most of the way.
Willis, 25, won the hearts of British fans by just reaching the main draw, then attained almost mythic status with a shocking straight-sets victory in the first round over 54th-ranked Ricardas Berankis.
With the roof closed because of persistent rain Wednesday, Centre Court was amplified, and Willis' group of chanting friends and fans made it seem more like soccer than tennis.
"I did look up twice as I bounced the ball, and saw Roger Federer, and thought, 'Oh, haven't seen this before,' " Willis said.
Federer let Willis walk out on court first, generating a roar from a crowd giddy with anticipation on a day when most matches were interrupted or postponed by rain.
"I thought it was cool that he got out first because it's his moment, in my opinion," Federer said. "I wanted him to have a great time."
When Willis won his first game of the match — the second game of the second set — he raised his arms and got a standing ovation.
"I thought I played okay," Willis said. "I was in games. I just didn't get on the board. He makes you play. He's class."
Willis stayed with Federer in the next two sets, being broken only twice.
"It was all just a blur," Willis said. "It was amazing. I did enjoy myself even though I was getting duffed up. I loved every bit of it. Not the duffing bit. I loved getting stuck in, fighting hard."
Federer said: "I'll remember most of the Centre Court matches here at Wimbledon, but this one will stand out because it's that special and probably not going to happen again to play against a guy 770 in the world.''
Playing under the closed retractable roof at Centre Court while play was suspended elsewhere at the All England Club because of rain, top-seeded Novak Djokovic beat Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). Djokovic overcame eight double-faults, and slipped and fell on his back while moving up to the net in the concluding tiebreaker but appeared to be okay.
Djokovic has 30 straight victories in Grand Slam play, taking sole ownership of third place on the all-time list. Rod Laver had 31 and Don Budge had 37.
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Explore all your options"I cannot say I'm surprised by 30 straight wins, I have high expectations for myself,'' Djokovic said. "I'm grateful that I'm able to play at a high level so consistently."
Women's third seed Agnieszka Radwanska turned in a quick 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Kateryna Kozlova and improved to 10-0 in Wimbledon first rounds.