BERKSHIRE'S Marcus Willis said his aggression won him the day as he overcame fellow Brit Liam Broady to book a place in the final round of Wimbledon qualifying.

In gloomy evening conditions, British number nine Willis dug deep to win 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 at the Bank of England Sports Centre in Roehampton.

The 26-year-old from Wokingham was solid throughout and survived a painful slip in the deciding set to negotiate his Manchester-based rival.

And it was Willis’ aggressive stroke play that was the difference between the two on the court, according to the Berkshire hitter.

“I was most pleased with my aggression and my variety,” said Willis, who hit the headlines last year when a memorable run at Wimbledon was ended by Roger Federer in the second round.

“Liam is very difficult to play against, you’ve got to mix him up and you can’t always defend. I thought I hit my forehand under pressure superbly well.

“I missed a couple of second serves by a couple of inches, but if you do that over the course of a match and you stay aggressive and believe in yourself, you’re going to make more than you miss.

“I had match points in the second set and missed a forehand by a couple of inches, but over the match I stayed aggressive and I won.”

Slough-born Willis’ victory sets up a meeting later today with 29-year-old Ukrainian Illya Marchenko, who overpowered Benjamin Becker to seal his own place in the final round.

And while he is wary of the threat Marchenko poses, the Slough hitter remains confident that he has kicked on from last year and will have enough in the tank to grace the courts of the All-England Club once more.

“Marchenko is very solid," said Willis, a former pupil of Forest School in Winnersh. "He's normally quite a bad match up for someone like myself, he’s got a good backhand, good serve and fights very well.

“I’ve got to look after my serve and see what he gives me on his.

“I am a better player than last year, I’m fitter, faster and moving better – I was a good player last year until Mr Federer took me out!

“I still stick by that if I didn’t play him I could have won more matches.

“I’m playing pretty well so far and getting some good results, but I’ll try and take it a point at a time, my next round will be very difficult, so I’ll go out there and give it everything I’ve got.”

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