LONDON — Marcus Willis was originally scheduled to spend Monday teaching tennis to a group of 5- to 10-year-old kids, among others, at Warwick Boat Club in central England. Instead, he wound up with grander, and more lucrative, plans: playing — and winning! — a match at Wimbledon.
And Wednesday, Willis’s students will need to find a substitute again, because he will be busy at the All England Club, standing across the net from none other than Roger Federer in the second round.
Now there’s something to brag about to friends: ‘‘The guy who coaches me is playing Federer at Wimbledon.’’
Quite surreal, to choose the word Willis used more than once to describe the series of events that brought him to this point. He is, after all, a 25-year-old with admittedly something of a beer gut who resides with his parents (“Living the dream,’’ Willis joked), makes about $40 an hour for giving tennis lessons when he’s not competing at local club tournaments, is ranked 772d, and never had played a tour-level match until Monday.
His 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over 54th-ranked Ricardas Berankis before a wildly supportive and singing crowd of fellow Brits at tiny Court 17 was by far the most intriguing development on Day 1 of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. There were ho-hum straight-set victories for past champions Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Venus Williams, and a half-dozen exits by lower-seeded players.
But Willis truly made news, becoming the worst-ranked qualifier to reach the second round at any major since No. 923 Jared Palmer at the 1988 US Open.
‘‘One of the best stories in a long time in our sport,’’ said Federer, who beat Guido Pella, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, in his return to Grand Slam tennis after missing the French Open with a bad back.
Willis’s take on his surprising success: ‘‘This doesn’t happen, really.’’
So how did it happen?
As a teen, Willis appeared to be an up-and-coming junior, reaching the third round of the Wimbledon boys’ tournament in 2007 and 2008, but injuries and what he describes as a lack of dedication derailed his career.
‘‘Tore my hamstring twice,’’ he said. “Hurt my knee earlier this year. Had a bit of a rough phase. I was down, struggling to get out of bed in the morning.’’
He says he was close to abandoning hope of a pro career, considering a move to Philadelphia to teach tennis, when his new girlfriend told him to keep trying to play.
Fast-forward to this month, when he was the last man invited to participate in a playoff for British players to earn a wild card into Wimbledon qualifying. Willis won three matches there, then another three in qualifying to get into the main draw.
And then the lefthanded serve-and-volleyer defeated Berankis by saving 19 of 20 break points and hitting 14 aces while using what he describes as an ‘‘unorthodox’’ mix of spins.
Afterward, Willis raced to the stands to kiss his girlfriend before being swallowed by a group hug from a bunch of longtime friends.
By getting to the second round, Willis is guaranteed at least 50,000 pounds (about $65,000). Not bad for someone whose prize money in 2016 had been about $350 — and that figure includes singles and doubles.
His career earnings when he arrived at Wimbledon were under $100,000.
‘‘I've got to understand it’s not going to be like this every week,’’ said Willis. “The reality of the tour — it’s brutal. It’s cutthroat. I want to be a top-100 tennis player. I want this, week-in and week-out. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, and I've got a lot of improving to do as well.’’
Next up is Federer, whose record 17 Grand Slam titles include a record-tying seven at the All England Club.
‘‘I'm not sure he can play on grass,’’ Willis deadpanned.
Then he continued: ‘‘I get to play on a stadium court. This is what I dreamed of when I was younger. I'm going to go out there and try to win the tennis match. I probably won't. I might not.’’
Sure. But given all that’s gone on for Willis lately, who’s to say?
In keeping with tradition, Djokovic played the first match on Centre Court as the men’s defending champion, and he came through with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory over Britain’s James Ward in just over two hours to extend his Grand Slam winning streak to 29 matches.
‘‘This is probably the most unique experience in tennis, playing as the defending champion in Wimbledon — untouched grass, first match, 1 o'clock Monday,’’ Djokovic said. ‘‘It’s really special to feel this tradition and history, to come back to the cradle of our sport. It was a wonderful experience.’’
Djokovic holds all four Grand Slam titles. Having won the Australian Open and French Open this year, he’s also seeking to become the first man to capture the first three legs of a calendar-year Grand Slam since Rod Laver swept all four majors in 1969.
Djokovic looked right back at home Monday as he ran off the first nine games against Ward, ranked 177th in the world and granted a wild-card entry.
‘‘Not much to say about my game,’’ said Djokovic. “It was really flawless. I felt great.’’
When Ward finally won a game, hitting a service winner to make it 3-1 in the second set, the Briton threw up his arm in mock triumph and basked in a loud ovation from the home crowd. Ward broke in the next game and the two players went to a tiebreaker, which Djokovic dominated.
French Open women’s champion Garbine Muguruza was extended to three sets by Italy’s Camila Giorgi before winning, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, in a match that lasted more than 2½ hours.
Five-time women’s champion Venus Williams also had a stiff test, overcoming Donna Vekic of Croatia, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, on Court 1.
The 36-year-old Williams, the oldest woman in the draw and playing in her 19th Wimbledon, saved two set points when the 20-year-old Vekic failed to serve out the first set at 6-5.
‘‘I felt like I couldn’t hit a winner against her today,’’ said the eighth-seeded Williams. “She ran everything down and played amazing tennis. The first set, there were some hairy moments there, down some set points, but I guess that’s where experience sets in.’’
In the tournament’s first big surprise, former top-ranked Ana Ivanovic was beaten, 6-2, 7-5, by Ekaterina Alexandrova, a Russian qualifier ranked 223d and making her Grand Slam debut.
The 23d-seeded Ivanovic blamed an injured right wrist, and said she won’t play between now and the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.
Among the seeded men who advanced: No. 5 Kei Nishikori, No. 6 Milos Raonic, No. 9 Marin Cilic, No. 11 David Goffin, No. 13 David Ferrer, No. 16 Gilles Simon, No. 23 Ivo Karlovic, and No. 27 Jack Sock. Sam Querrey, an American seeded No. 28, overcame Lukas Rosol in a marathon match that went to 12-10 in the fifth set.
The first seeded player ousted was No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber, who fell in four sets to Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Kevin Anderson, a South African seeded 20th, lost later in five sets to Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
Women’s winners included No. 4 Angelique Kerber, No. 5 Simona Halep, No. 9 Madison Keys, No. 12 Carla Suarez Navarro, No. 14 Samantha Stosur, and former finalist Sabine Lisicki.
