October 10th, 2016
Marcus Willis Given Chance To Win $250,000 At Tie Break Tens Vienna
Unlikely Wimbledon hero Marcus Willis will take on some of the biggest stars in tennis and have a chance to win $250,000 in a single night after being given the last spot in Tie Break Tens Vienna on October 23rd.
Willis, who won six matches to reach the main draw of Wimbledon and eventually went down to Roger Federer in round 2, joins Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Tommy Haas and Goran Ivanisevic in the Tie Break Tens Field.
The players will be divided into two groups of three players over a round-robin format of first-to-10-point tie-break matches, with the top two players in each group advancing to the semifinals.
The champion will receive a winner-take-all cheque for $250,000, and Willis, despite being ranked No.497 in the world and having not played a match since Wimbledon because of injury, believes he can win it.
“The opposition isn’t very good, is it? joked Willis, who will also play in the qualifying rounds of the Erste Bank Open 500 – the ATP World Tour event in Vienna over the same weekend.
“In a three-set match against guys like Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem and Jo Wilfried Tsonga I would be unlikely to win, but in Tie Break Tens in a first-to-10-point tie-break? I think I could win a 10-point tie-break against anyone. Accrington Stanley would lose to Liverpool over 90 minutes, but in a 10-minute match they would stand a chance. It’s the same with this. I think it will suit my game. It’s exciting, it’s a sprint, and the crowd are going to be into it. I’m lucky to have been given this opportunity, I’ve been training hard to get ready for Vienna and I can’t wait to give it a crack.”
The inaugural Tie Break Tens event at the Royal Albert Hall in London last December was won by another British player – Kyle Edmund. He defeated Murray 10-7 in the final to win more money in one night than he had accumulated throughout the rest of 2015. Edmund said afterwards that he would invest the money in his tennis preparation and support team. A run to the China Open quarterfinals last week saw him break into the World’s Top 50 for the first time.
Tie Break Tens Vienna will kick off at 7pm CET on October 23rd at the Wiener Stadthalle.
Tickets: goo.gl/6oTH55
Tie Break Tens Website: goo.gl/6uJndq
Twitter: @TieBreakTens
Facebook: http://facebook.com/tiebreaktens
Erste Bank Open Vienna Website: http://www.erstebank-open.com/en/
Topics: 10sballs, Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Dominic Thiem, Erste Bank Open, Goran Ivanisevic, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Marcus Willis, Sports, Tennis News, Tie Break Tens, Tommy Haas, Vienna