𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Oliver Tarvet admitted facing Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon was the “most special day of my life”.

Tarvet, ranked 733 in the world, completed a remarkable journey from total unknown to taking on the defending champion on Centre Court.

It might have seemed like some kind of fever dream to most of us, but the 21-year-old mixed it with the five-time grand slam winner before succumbing to a 6-1 6-4 6-4 defeat.

“It’s not every day that you get to play against maybe the best player in the world,” said the right-hander from St Albans.

“So yeah, it was really important for me going into the match to enjoy it, enjoy the opportunity.

“I think I did a pretty good job of kind of enjoying the moment and trying to also play some good tennis at the same time.

“I kind of knew that the first set might be difficult because it’s not a stage that I’m used to.

“Even though the first set scoreline was 6-1, I still had break points in three games. I definitely had chances. I think that should give me confidence that I was competing.

“Credit to him, he plays the big points just incredibly well. That’s the difference. You kind of feel like you’re in the set, you lose it 6-1, it’s tough.

“But yeah, even though it was not the result that I wanted today, it was definitely the most special day of my life.”

Tarvet will not see much of the £99,000 he has earned for coming through qualifying and reaching the second round as he is still a US college student playing under national association rules.

But he certainly gave Alcaraz a run for his money, breaking the two-time Wimbledon champion’s serve twice.

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Alcaraz, now on a 20-match winning streak after his title successes in Rome, at the French Open and at Queen’s Club, was full of praise for his opponent.

“I told him just congratulations for the run, keep it going, keep working hard,” he said.

“It seems like he’s a really nice guy and a really nice, hard worker. It seems like he loves tennis. He played with such a good passion out there, that is really important.

“How far he can go, I don’t know. If he chooses to stay in college, the level that we can see in college is pretty high.

“Let’s see, if he keeps working hard, if he keeps practising hard and playing in a professional level, I think he can go far.”

Elsewhere in SW19, teenage sensation Joao Fonseca brought hundreds of rowdy Brazilian fans to Court 12 and delighted them all by beating American Jenson Brooksby 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4 to set up an all-South American clash with Chile’s Nicolas Jarry.

Russian 14th seed Andrey Rublev dropped the opening set against South African Lloyd Harris, but hit back to win in four and will face Adrian Mannarino of France in round three.