Week 7 - Great Britain F3 ($15,000) - Shrewsbury (indoor, hard)

Madadman · Masters Series Champion

Week 7 - Great Britain F3 ($15,000) - Shrewsbury (indoor, hard)

Jaffa · Challenger level

Unless he does terribly in the next three months he surely deserves a chance to defend his points?

Must say the whole thing reminds me of the chris Eaton story

Spectator · All-time great

He should certainly have a WC into qualifying if he needs one. Unless he meets the criteria, I think it would be unwise to give him a MD wild card.

Shhh · Challenger level

I think....if Marcus is back looking serious about his career and moving in the right direction with at least a couple of decentish wins in the mix.....then he 100% should receive a main draw wild card even if a bit outside the criteria. To me, its exactly what they are for.

the addict · Tennis legend

Marcus has very few points apart from his Wimbledon ones, so I hope he presses on in the next few months and adds to his tally. As said above, if he does play well in the meantime, he deserves the chance to defend those points.

wolf · Tennis legend

Marcus has been struggling with the feel of his rackets, probably going to be a struggle to win this week,having said that the field is not amazing.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Marcus winning a tight battle so far but this match is far from over.

Marcus leads 6-3 *2-3

Only one break so far and on BPs, Marcus is 1/2 whilst Horansky is 0/8.

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Marcus creates another BP and takes it to lead by a set and *4-3

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Marcus saves one more BP just for good measure before sealing the match on his 4th MP to win 6-3 6-4

Overall there were 12 BPs played in the match, 9 on the Willis serve and 3 on the Horansky serve. Marcus won 11 of those 12 points.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Well done, Willbomb !

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

SF: (5) Marcus Willis WR 442 defeated (4) Filip Horansky (SVK) WR 375 by 3 & 4 biggrin

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

So pleased that marcus is building on the previous success that we enjoyed together and confident that he can end the year with a new PB

one of my vivid memories of marcus was same venue 4 years ago when marcus played Dan Evans I am a keen student of British military history and while at Shrewsbury in 2013 I toured the local battlefield

I dubbed the last final as Battle of Shrewsbury i hope marcus can go one better in this one he is certainly in great shape and now married with a growing family got something extra to fight for !

Go wilbomb !

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

Wow are you there tomorrow Bob I am coming up so be good to meet

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

I believe that last years heroics justify a card though I could see marcus proceeding to MD again via quali's

its not been easy this year to go to tourni's with baby on the way

got good feeling about tomorrow's final and future success

Spectator · All-time great

Excellent win.

If the aim is to give Mr Willis the chance to defend his Wimbledon points from last year, I'm not sure that the choice of how to maximise the chances is entirely straightforward. A MDWC offers no guaranteed points, leaving the possibility of drawing a high-ranked player in the first round and winding up with a mandatory zero. A QWC offers the potential for a zero with a loss in the first round, true, but the odds of getting a winnable match are better ... at which point 8, 25, and more points are on offer.

If the aim is a subsidy, then a MDWC makes more sense - but Marcus Willis has - through his own stellar efforts last year - already enjoyed more financial opportunities recently than most other British tennis players.

And then there's the 'brand'. Marcus Willis, the plucky Wimbledon hero, is a great brand - one, indeed, with global reach. It was amazing to see how many people outside Britain, as well as those of us within, thought he was one of the highlights of Wimbledon. But Marcus Willis, gifted a WC, would be in quite a different position, and it might not help.

And that's before you get to the merits of WCs, the use of criteria, etc!