Qualifier Oliver Tarvet continued his dream Wimbledon debut with a first-round victory – and he could face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz next.
The 21-year-old San Diego University student is ranked down at 733 but he took full advantage of a wild card into qualifying by winning three matches to earn his place at the All England Club.
And he looked right at home on the lawns of the All England Club, producing an assured performance to claim a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win over fellow qualifier Leandro Riedi from Switzerland.
Tarvet said: “There’s a lot of emotions, [I’m] just really overjoyed. All the hard work I put in the last few years has clearly paid off.
“It’s my first tour-level event, to come out here, come through qualifying, win a first-round match, have a chance to play maybe Carlos on Wednesday, it’s just a dream come true.”
The win is very likely to mean a crack at Alcaraz in the second round – but most of his prize money, which is now a guaranteed £99,000, is set to go unclaimed.
Tarvet is planning to go back to university in the United States for his final year, and the rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which runs college sports, requires players to stay amateur.
Tarvet can claim 10,000 US dollars (approximately £7,300) as well as the expenses he has incurred during the tournament – he joked he would fly his coach over first class to try to ensure he would not have to forfeit too much of the money.
There was no mistaking the joy Tarvet felt at his achievement, though. The St Albans player punched the air with a wide smile plastered on his face after serving out the victory.
On the prize money issue, he said: “I’ve got to find more and more on expenses by the day. We’ll see. I’m not here for the money, I’m here for the crowd and the experience and just to stamp my mark. I think I’ve done a pretty good job so far.”
Tarvet was the only British player to survive the qualifying tournament, joining 22 other home players in the singles draws, 14 of them wildcards.
Kartal gets Brits off to great start
Sonay Kartal shocked 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko to give Brits great start
Sonay Kartal gave Britain’s massed ranks of singles players a great start by ousting 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko.
Ostapenko, a former semi-finalist back in 2018, defeated Kartal in Eastbourne last week in straight sets but the British number three delighted the sun-baked crowd on Court Three with a 7-5 2-6 6-2 victory.
It is Kartal’s third best win by ranking of her career and her best at a Grand Slam, with the 23-year-old producing another strong performance at the All England Club after reaching the third round as a qualifier 12 months ago.
Things did not begin well for Kartal, who was quickly 3-0 down and finding little answer to the power hitting of her Latvian opponent.
Ostapenko had three set points at 5-4 after Kartal had retrieved the early break but the British player, ranked 51, held firm and took full advantage of her opponent’s disappointment to make it five games in a row and win the opener.
Ostapenko responded well to level the match but Kartal did not allow the contest to get away from her, breaking serve early in the decider and racing into a 5-0 lead.
Ostapenko’s body language indicated she would be more than happy to get off the court and, although she rallied to win two games, Kartal served out the victory at the second time of asking.
In the second round, Kartal will face Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova, who profited from Ons Jabeur’s retirement.
“I wasn’t expecting not to feel good, I’ve been practising pretty well the last few days but I guess these things happen and I’m pretty sad,” said Jabeur.
“It doesn’t really help me with my confidence. I keep pushing myself, even though it was a very tough season for me, so I hope I can feel better and see what’s going to happen.”
Oliver Crawford won the first set before falling to defeat
British wild card Oliver Crawford clinched the opening set on his Wimbledon debut before suffering a 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-4 6-4 defeat to Italian world No 73 Mattia Bellucci.
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