Professional tennis player, Marcus Willis, has been announced as the after-dinner speaker at active-net 2020, which takes place this month.

Born and raised in Wokingham, Willis started playing at nine years old. He gained his first ATP points at the age of just 16, at the Barnstaple Challenger, reached a junior world ranking high of 14 and was the number 1 UK junior.

Willis took Wimbledon by storm in 2016, when, with a world ranking of 772, he won three pre-qualifying matches, followed by three tense qualifying matches to secure a first round Wimbledon Main Draw win in three straight sets against Ričardas Berankis, a player ranked over 700 places above him. This set up the infamous clash with the seven-time champion Roger Federer, where Willis received a standing ovation, despite his loss. Willis won the BBC Shot of the Tournament for lobbing Federer, who praised Willis for his “unbelievable energy” both on court and with fans and described his personality as “refreshing.”

Willis returned to Wimbledon in 2017, causing another surprise in the doubles by defeating the defending doubles champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hughes Hebert in the second round. He has reached an ATP world ranking of 321 singles and 209 doubles.

Willis has enjoyed playing World Team Tennis, a US-based mixed-gender professional tennis league, for New York Empire and the San Diego Aviators, and his charisma and team spirit has never gone unnoticed.

“We are really excited to welcome Marcus Willis as our after-dinner speaker this year. Marcus became a Wimbledon hero after his match with Federer and I’m sure our guests will enjoy his fascinating account of playing against one of the greatest tennis players of all time,” says David Monkhouse, director of Leisure-net Solutions.

For more information, visit active-net.org