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Wimbledon 2016: British qualifier Willis stuns Berankis to set up Federer tie

Britain's Marcus Willis picked up the biggest win of his career, beating world number 54 Ricardas Berankis

Wimbledon 2016: British qualifier Willis stuns Berankis to set up Federer tie
Marcus Willis celebrates his first round victory over Ricardas Berankis at Wimbledon (image via: telegraph)
tom-hiscott
By Tom Hiscott

Britain's Marcus Willis has set up a second-round tie against Roger Federer at Wimbledon, after securing the biggest win of his career on Monday. 

The 25-year-old saw off Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis in straight sets to keep his incredible run of results going. 

Willis, ranked 772nd in the world and 23rd in Britain, won 6-3 6-3 6-4 in his first round tie, having already come through six rounds of qualifying just to reach the main draw at SW19. 

Willis upsets Berankis in just over two hours

In front a strong home backing on court 17, Willis got the perfect start to his first round tie, breaking Berankis in the opening game of the match. 

The opening set then remained with serve, and with the score at 5-3 in Willis' favour, he broke the Lithuanian to love, to move a set ahead. 

The decisive break in the second set came in game eight, allowing Willis to serve it out to move one set from a famous victory.

Willis is congratulated by Berankis following their first round tie (image via: zimbio)

In the fifth game of the third set, Willis broke Berankis once more, and showed great composure in holding his serve for the remainder of the match, prevailing 6-4 and booking his place in the second round. 

Willis told the BBC after his win that 'It's gotten a little bit out of hand' and that he plans to just 'keep it rolling' having saved 19 of 20 break points in his first ever victory at a Grand Slam. 

Willis to face Federer in second round 

Next up for Willis is a second round tie against the Roger Federer, which will most likely take place on Centre Court.

Roger Federer is next up for Willis in round two (image via: indianexpress.com)

The Swiss legend also came through the first round in straight sets, seeing off Argentina's Guido Pella 7-6 7-6 6-3, showing no signs of the back injury which saw him miss the recent French Open

Commenting on his next tie, Willis said that "it's an amazing dream come true", and that he hopes to continue his miraculous run of results going. 

Willis continued by saying, "I'm going to go out there and try to win the tennis match. I probably won't." in his interview with the BBC.

Federer was pleased when finding out his second round opponent, telling the media that "this is the kind of stories we need in our sport" following a couple of turbluent months for tennis. 

The seven-time Wimbledon champion has always enjoyed great support at Wimbledon, but admitted that it will be 'awesome' if Willis recieves louder cheers when they take to the court on Wednesday.