WIMBLEDON, England — Roger Federer, tennis’s perennial sentimental favorite, will have to surrender that crown on Wednesday.
His opponent will be the 772nd-ranked Marcus Willis, one of the most improbable men to play a second-round match at Wimbledon in many a full moon.
“I think it’s one of the best stories in a long time in our sport,” said Federer, who at age 34 has been around long enough to know.
It was quite a Monday all around for rank outsiders. Iceland eliminated England to reach the quarterfinals of the European soccer championships, but at least the English, who relish their underdogs (though perhaps not at the expense of their national honor), can take some small consolation from Willis.