Federer: 'I Wanted Him To Have A Great Time'

Roger Federer has played 91 singles matches at Wimbledon during his career, but admitted his second-round match on Wednesday against British qualifier Marcus Willis was a truly unique experience for him.

Willis made headlines with his transformation from teaching pro to Wimbledon competitor, but Federer halted the Grand Slam fantasies of club players across the globe with a straight-sets win. A fan favourite wherever he plays, Federer found himself in the unusual position of having the Centre Court crowd largely rooting for his opponent.

“I expected something like this, especially under the roof.  He was going to have some supporters and they were going to have chants. I felt very well prepared. I enjoyed it,” said Federer. “I thought he played very well.  My approach going into the match was that I was playing a Top 50-ranked guy because that’s how he is [playing] now.”

The normally stoic Federer even smiled at some of Willis’ crafty hitting and the animated chants from the crowd. The pair shared warm words at net and walked off Centre Court together to thunderous applause.

“It’s his moment. I wanted him to have a great time,” said Federer. “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 for me to play against a guy [ranked] 770 in the world. I enjoyed it as much as I possibly could.”

Always the consummate professional, Federer’s training regimen is a large part of the success he’s enjoyed throughout his career. With Willis set to make his way back on tour full-time, Federer urged him to not jump back into a relentless tournament schedule and set aside blocks of time for training.

“For anybody with his ranking, it’s really important to set goals: short-term, long-term, how many tournaments to play… I feel like players lose sight of how important practice is. You can play matches every week on tour, but that’s not how you’re going to improve,” said Federer. “Have your vacation. The body needs healing and the mind needs resting as well. Listen to good advice, put your head down, work hard and enjoy it while you can because it runs away very quickly.”