WIMBLEDON, England — There was an extended roar from the collective heart and a standing ovation.

Honestly, less fuss has been made over some men when they won titles on Centre Court. But all this ado on Wednesday was reserved for the British qualifier Marcus Willis as he finally won a game in the second round against Roger Federer.

Disproportionate? It did not seem so as you sat there taking it all in under a closed roof that had not succeeded in blocking out any of the sunshine in Willis’s back story. And if the crowd was not in Federer’s corner for a change, it was because Willis was playing not just for them, but as one of them.

With a world ranking of 772, Willis, 25, was the closest thing this Wimbledon had to an Everyman, and he had come very close to quitting professional tennis this year. He has been supplementing his modest income by playing club team tennis in France and by giving tennis lessons to youngsters for 30 pounds an hour at an English yacht club.

But he has found both love and a fine patch of tennis form in the past few months, and he managed to reach the main draw at Wimbledon for the first time after getting through the imposing gantlet of prequalifying and qualifying.