Laura Robson and Heather Watson given Wimbledon wildcards but Marcus Willis misses out

Wild things | Heather Watson and Laura Robson are among seven Britons awarded wildcards at Wimbledon
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Laura Robson and Heather Watson are among seven Britons awarded a wildcard into the main draw of Wimbledon but there is no place for Marcus Willis.

Instead Willis, one of the early attractions of last year’s Grand Slam, is set to have to battle his way through qualifying to reach the main event.

Former Wimbledon girls’ champion Robson reached the last 16 of the senior event in 2013 but has since struggled with on-going injury problems but her entry in the main draw enables her to climb back up the world rankings.

Joining her is Fed Cup team-mate Heather Watson despite back-to-back first-round defeats on grass this month.

She lost in straight sets at Nottingham to Alison Riske but showed encouraging signs of recapturing some of her best form in a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 defeat to world No5 Elina Svitolina at the Aegon Championship in Birmingham.

Willis, meanwhile, delighted home crowds a year ago when, ranked 772nd in the world, he won six qualifying matches before upsetting Ricardas Berankis in the opening round.

It set up a dream second-round tie against Roger Federer but Willis, who this week admitted he was hopeful of a wildcard, will again have to force his way into the main draw via qualifying unless he gets a late reprieve.

Wimbledon will announce three more wildcards for the men’s and women’s singles at the end of this week as these are held back for players who perform well in grass-court tournaments now running.

Willis is facing Sam Groth in the second round of an ATP Challenger event in Ilkley and were he to win the tournament that could pave the way for him to receive a main draw wildcard.

Regardless of that, he will take part in the men’s doubles after he and partner Jay Clarke were given a wildcard into the event.

Of the other British singles wildcards, places in the men’s draw have been given to Brydan Klein, Cameron Norrie and James Ward. British duo Katie Boulter and Naomi Broady join Robson and Watson in the main draw.

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