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christ


Futures level

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Marcus Willis
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Don't misunderstand me: I think the Mr Willis has done very well in the game of life, he simply didn't achieve "his tennis potential" as far as us onlookers are concerned. If I were him I would probably be happier with the life he has than the life of a perennially peripatetic top-100 tennis player. I am reminded of the famous "where did it all go wrong George" joke.

I don't know if the LTA structure is right or not, but I do know that the head is more important than physical ability if a player is to parlay that ability into making it to the highest echelons, and I am not convinced that the head can be (wholly) taught.

As I noted with Mr Evans, it seems that about four years ago a switch was flicked, and he actually started to string together results that matched his talent: finding the means to flick that switch has almost nothing to do with tennis. In my view.

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Bob in Spain


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Great podcast with Marcus and Soto tennis.

Lovely story that I have never heard before about the Berankis match and how Fed was watching in the locker room and predicted that Marcus would win because Berankis could ope with the slice into his forehand. (Story starts at 52 mins 40 secs)

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/control-the-controllables/id1511047964



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Mark1968


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I agree that the LTA have a lot to answer for, other players such as Andy Murray who blamed them for "ruining" his brother as a tennis player have criticised them and now they are hiding behind the Covid hoax to not put on any futures events. The British Tour is all well and good but events with world ranking points are the only ones that really matter. I wonder how many loafers at the LTA are sitting on their backsides taking huge salaries at the moment while players struggle.

However regarding Marcus he was his own worse enemy. Turning up at a tournament without his rackets, being out of shape for some of his career etc, I could go on. Over the years he had plenty of sponsorship and LTA funding and took part in hundreds of tournaments. The man, who more or less by his own admission did not even have a forehand, was nowhere near as good as some of you think and his career reflects this.

Some need to face reality, we live in an excuse culture in the UK, it was down to Marcus that he did not do better, he just wasn't good enough, not everybody is good enough to be a top 100 player, that is reality.

I wish him all the best moving forward and if he does get into coaching you might see him in the odd doubles occasionally like Morgan Phillips.

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christ


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Mark1968 wrote:

... the Covid hoax ...

 Interesting. What hoax was this?



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Oakland2002


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christ wrote:
Mark1968 wrote:

... the Covid hoax ...

 Interesting. What hoax was this?

 The one that means you just ignore the rest of the post and probably all future ones and move on. Nothing to discuss here. 



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Mark1968


Intermediate Club Player

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Oakland2002 wrote:
christ wrote:
Mark1968 wrote:

... the Covid hoax ...

 Interesting. What hoax was this?

 The one that means you just ignore the rest of the post and probably all future ones and move on. Nothing to discuss here. 

 When I read something like this, the expression "It is easier to fool someone than convince them they have been fooled", comes to mind. 



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Madadman


Masters Series Champion

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I notice that Marcus has also been playing some touch tennis and won a tournament in Spain last weekend.
www.touchtennis.com/gb/marcus-willis-512.php

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Coup Droit


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Madadman wrote:

I notice that Marcus has also been playing some touch tennis and won a tournament in Spain last weekend.
www.touchtennis.com/gb/marcus-willis-512.php

 Billiant link, Madadman - thanks - made me laugh biggrin

 



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Priesty


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Interesting feature about Marcus and his comeback in doubles on the ATP tour website -

www.atptour.com/en/news/marcus-willis-march-2023-feature

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Coup Droit


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And, at age 33, Marcus has finally broken into the top-100 of doubles

Up 12 places to WR 95, thanks to his title last week

Gary, where are you? Do you still follow him? Well done on making his career possible at an early age and all the support. Bet it must have been frustrating at times

Marcus, you're a great tennis story - keep it going !

PS There's also another thread for Marcus - could one of the mods almalgamate them maybe?

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Tennpar


Strong Club Player

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Good to see Marcus out & about again and building up his ranking again

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Stircrazy


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Coup Droit wrote:

PS There's also another thread for Marcus - could one of the mods almalgamate them maybe?

Done - see very first page.



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Coup Droit


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Thank you :)

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Priesty


Challenger level

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www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/1915699/Marcus-Willis-Roger-Federer-Wimbledon

Never knew this - Marcus the bricklayer!

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JonH comes home


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He says

The next step is to get a partner who is reliable - that is a common problem in doubles. I dont know where my limit is - that is the thing. What has not changed is his love for tennis.

Presuming he means one he can stick with and grow as a pair?

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