Medvedev reveals secret of 2016 Wimbledon qualifying that helped Marcus Willis’s great run

The Russian said he’d been to hospital the previous day due to a freak head injury

Roger Federer (SUI) vs Marcus Willis (GB)

Tennis Mag / Panoramic

May 11, 2024

For many people, especially home fans, Marcus Willis’ run through pre-qualifying, qualifying and then the first-round proper to secure a meeting with Roger Federer was the story of the 2016 Wimbledon Championships.

The unheralded Briton won seven straight matches to set up a clash with Federer, beating Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev (in the final round of qualifying) along the way.

But in Rome on Saturday after he reached the third round with a solid win over Jack Draper, Medvedev revealed an incident that had it not happened, might have stopped Willis in his tracks before he made it through to take on the legendary Swiss.

“The day before was a day off,” Medvedev said, when asked the most bizarre incident that had happened to him in his career, a question asked in the light of Novak Djokovic being hit on the head by a water bottle that slipped from the backpack of a fan leaning down to ask for an autograph.”

Medvedev reveals head injury before Willis match

“In Aorangi Park (the practice area at Wimbledon)…to come in, there is like a cage which you need to step up just a little bit,” he continued. “On the top there is also one thing. I didn’t look carefully. I hit it. OK, you hit your head sometimes, doesn’t matter, especially when you are tall.

“So usually when you hit your head, you straightaway put your arm there because you’re painful. (I) looked on my arm, full of blood. I say I have to go to hospital, stitches, etcetera.

“I lost the match the next day. I felt like I played good. Marcus really had a good run. You always ask yourself after the match, Did I lose yesterday because I hit my head or not? That’s a story which no one knew about. It’s not a bad story either, but a story that I remember.”

Willis went on to make round two and enjoy his day in the sun, taking on Federer on Centre Court, although the Swiss won easily enough on the day.