Wimbledon 2017: Marcus Willis and Jay Clarke stun defending doubles champions in five-set thriller

The pair only played together at the Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club for the first time a fortnight ago, but stunned the defending champions 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7/3) 5-7 6-3

The pair were given a heroes' reception as they left the court (Getty)

Marcus Willis caused another Wimbledon sensation as he and Jay Clarke knocked out the defending champions in round two of the doubles.

Last year's SW19 cult hero paired up with Clarke as a wild-card team this year and sent the French pair of Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert crashing to defeat on Court Three.

Britons Willis and Clarke won 3-6 6-1 7-6 (7/3) 5-7 6-3 against the second seeds to reach the last-16 stage.

Willis speared an ace down the centre on match point, before picking up another ball and smashing it high into the London sky before hugging Clarke, as a partisan crowd rose to acclaim the underdogs.

Both 26-year-old Clarke and 18-year-old Willis lost in the final round of qualifying for the singles event, and as a doubles partnership they are a raw combination, having played their first event together in Ilkley just a fortnight ago.

After winning through one round at the Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club, they have been inspired by raucous support to earn back-to-back wins at Wimbledon, with the popular Willis reviving memories of 12 months ago when he played Roger Federer on Centre Court.

Willis has wowed Wimbledon once again (Getty)

Willis and Clarke had chances to close out the match in the fourth set, failing to take three match points, but when a fourth arrived at 40-30 in the ninth game of the decider Willis was not to be denied.

Willis said: "I don't really know how to explain that one. We played great and the crowd got behind us.

"It was awesome, especially the way we came out in the fifth and kept on going because we'd had three match points and didn't do a lot wrong. It's easy to let your heads drop but we fought really hard.

"Our expectations were to lose properly but I knew we could get close and if we racked up the games on our serve anything could happen. We took a few risks and it paid off, and we played really well. We always go in thinking we can win."

The two men beat the reigning champions (Getty)

Asked if it registered as their best win, Willis said: "It's our second tournament together so probably yeah. They didn't play Ilkley, those two."

In a light-hearted press conference, Willis added: "Bit of an upset, that one, I think."

Assessing their prospects for the rest of the tournament, Willis said: "We haven't played much doubles. We're obviously pretty good, but you can't say we're going to win it.

"We believe we can beat anybody but it's a match at a time."

Clarke, whose sister suggested the partnership, said of the teams now blocking their path: "Everyone's good, especially now you're seeing the best players coming through."

When asked why his sister thought the duo could work well together, Clarke said: "What he did last year, and I've seen him play a lot in Futures, doubles, things like that, and he really enjoys it. He's very relaxed on court and that's the kind of person I want to play with."

"And the forehand," Willis added.