Marcus Willis and Jay Clarke stun Wimbledon with victory over defending doubles champions

Willis continued his run of upsetting stars at Wimbledon with fellow wild-card Clarke
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Standard Sport8 July 2017

Marcus Willis caused another Wimbledon sensation as he and Jay Clarke knocked out the defending champions in round two of the doubles.

Last year's SW19 cult hero paired up with Clarke as a wild-card team this year and sent the French pair of Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert crashing to defeat on Court Three.

Britons Willis and Clarke won 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7/3) 5-7 6-3 against the second seeds to reach the last-16 stage.

Willis speared an ace down the centre on match point, before picking up another ball and smashing it high into the London sky before hugging Clarke, as a partisan crowd rose to acclaim the underdogs.

Marcus Willis talks about this year's Wimbledon

Both 18-year-old Clarke and 26-year-old Willis lost in the final round of qualifying for the singles event, and as a doubles partnership they are a raw combination, having played their first event together in Ilkley just a fortnight ago.

After winning through one round at the Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club, they have been inspired by raucous support to earn back-to-back wins at Wimbledon, with the popular Willis reviving memories of 12 months ago when he played Roger Federer on Centre Court.

Willis and Clarke had chances to close out the match in the fourth set, failing to take three match points, but when a fourth arrived at 40-30 in the ninth game of the decider Willis was not to be denied.

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