If you never try, you’ll never know? Frenchman Jules Marie, the tennis player turned vlogger turned tennis player again, was willing to exhaust all options to ensure he made his Wimbledon debut…even if it meant sliding into the DMs of a world champion. Grand Slam.
You may have heard of Marie, currently ranked 246th, if you’ve spent any time on Tennis Twitter, or YouTube, so to speak. The 32-year-old spent six years away from professional tennis before trying his hand at the high-level sport two years ago, but only after creating his own channel which has 120,000 subscribers and more than 22.5 million views. video views. Marie and her twin brother, Arthur, started the channel during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to virtually coach recreational players who wanted to improve but couldn’t get on the field. Since then, he’s been taking his followers with him as he attempts to rebuild his touring career from the ground up.
Finding herself about to enter the Wimbledon qualifying field for the first time on the eve of its start, Marie decided to go “all in”, in her own words… and sent a message to Andy Murray on Instagram so that the media was swirling. On Sunday it was all about whether or not the Scot would withdraw from this year’s tournament at SW19 after back surgery. (A takedown, any takedown, would help advance the Frenchman’s position and push him down the field.)
“My buddy, goat, legend,” Marie began, “I’m (an) alternate (in) the qualifiers. Is there any chance you can pull out of Wimbledon… before 10 a.m. tomorrow to let me play my first Wimbledon? »
