Marcus Willis is on a charge again at Wimbledon eight years after facing Roger Federer on Centre Court.
The 33-year-old briefly became the biggest story of the Championships when he qualified for the main draw in 2016 and won his first-round match to set up the date with Federer.
A stunning lob was the highlight of a straight-sets defeat and Willis soon slipped off the radar and into retirement, but two years ago he returned to the sport in doubles and is back at the All England Club for the first time since 2017.
This time Willisā exploits have come in mixed doubles, where he has teamed up with Alicia Barnett to reach the quarter-finals, with the pair beating Americans Katie Volynets and Rajeev Ram 2-6 6-3 (11/9) on Wednesday.
Willis admits his Federer moment feels like āa lifetime agoā, saying: āAround Wimbledon time it comes up but, when Iām at tournaments, some people might remember it but Iām old now, Iām 33.
āThe younger guys coming through might have remembered it when they were young but tennis is evolving and moving so quickly. When Wimbledon comes around I might get tagged in the lob or things like that.
āObviously Iāve got really fond memories. I was cleaning out my garage recently and I had a load of Wimbledon memorabilia and some cards from schools and stuff like that, which I actually properly read through, and it was really nice, because at the time it was so fast-paced I didnāt really have the time to even respond to people.
āLittle bits pop up every now and then. It just feels like a lifetime ago. Iāll always have that experience of Wimbledon but this oneās also amazing, and the doubles run we had in 2017 (with Jay Clarke) was also amazing.
āThe three times Iāve come here, something incredibleās happened. Iām just incredibly grateful.ā
Willis has made good progress since returning to the tour, and last month he broke into the doubles top 100 for the first time.
āItās very different now,ā he said. āObviously I was a singles player back then. Iāve retired, come back and just had a really positive nearly two years back.
āI still pinch myself at the ranking I am. Weāre playing Wimbledon quarter-finals. Itās just amazing. Iām just making sure Iām trying to go out there and enjoy it.ā
Jamie Murray and his American partner Taylor Townsend reached the quarter-finals with a 6-7 (3) 6-1 (10/5) victory over Kevin Krawietz and Alexandra Panova while two-time champions Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk defeated Fabrice Martin and Cristina Bucsa 6-3 6-3.
There is guaranteed to be a British player in the menās doubles final after Skupski and Henry Patten both claimed victories with their respective partners to set up a meeting.
Skupski won the title last year with Dutchman Wesley Koolhof and is thriving on grass again alongside New Zealander Michael Venus, who usually plays with Jamie Murray.
Skupski and Venus won the warm-up events at Queenās and Eastbourne and maintained their winning streak by beating German duo Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens 7-6 (1) 7-6 (1) in the quarter-finals.
Patten, meanwhile, is through to the latter stages of a grand slam for the first time with his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara.
They claimed a fine victory over fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic on a deciding tie-break, winning 4-6 7-6 (5) 7-6 (10/7).
In the menās wheelchair singles, Alfie Hewett began his latest quest to complete his career Grand Slam by beating compatriot Ben Bartram 6-1 6-4 but Gordon Reid lost 6-4 6-4 to third seed Gustavo Fernandez.
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