Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon second round opponent sent him a simple but confident message ahead of their match on Wednesday.
Alcaraz progressed past the first round unconvincingly, battling it out with 38-year-old Fabio Fognini in five sets. Fognini entered the match on a 10-game losing streak, but almost pulled off the upset of the tournament against Alcaraz, the back-to-back Wimbledon champion.
The Spaniard survived the scare on Centre Court, and will now have to guard against complacency in his second match of the tournament against Britain’s Oliver Tarvet.
Amateur Tarvet just won his first-ever Wimbledon match, but isn’t backing down from the challenge of Alcaraz.
‘I can win against anyone’ – Oliver Tarvet’s confident message to Carlos Alcaraz
Tarvet is brimming with confidence ahead of what is undoubtedly the biggest match of his young tennis career.
The world number 733 from St Albans came through three rounds of qualifying just to make the tournament (his first appearance at a tour-level event), beating number 144 Alexander Blockx in straight sets in the final of qualifying. It was his first-ever five-set match.
He beat Leandro Reidi of Switzerland, again in straight sets, in the first round of Wimbledon to earn his match against Alcaraz. He marches into battle with the world number two with every intention of pulling off one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history.
After his first round win, Tarvet said, “I’ve come here and not really set myself any expectations. I’m quietly confident that I can win against anyone. Alcaraz isn’t an exception to that.
“Obviously, he’s done an incredible amount in the tennis world. He’s a difficult guy not to respect. But just go out there and try and treat it like another match.”
It’s a bold claim, since only two players have beaten Alcaraz at Wimbledon.
But the hometown hero is living his Wimbledon dream, and won’t let the fear of losing dampen his experience. It’s been a fast-track ride to the biggest stage in the sport, but one he’s embracing.
“As a kid, it’s what you dream of,” he said. “I came here when I was a little kid. It’s what you work for. Obviously, it’s a pretty long-term goal, but for it to happen so suddenly has been really special.”
Why Oliver Tarvet cannot spend his Wimbledon winnings
Tarvet’s incredible upset earned him £99,000 in winnings, but he won’t get to enjoy it. As a student-athlete at the University of San Diego, US college regulations dictate that he can only earn a profit of $10,000 per year in prize money.
He spoke on the challenges of balancing his chequebook, “I will try and do everything I can to make that work out and to find X amount of expenses so I’m under $10,000 of profit.
“It’s something I’ve got to figure out. Maybe I hire someone to help me out with the expenses, make sure the NCAA are happy. It’s very important for me. I have a lot of goals at USD still.”
Alcaraz earned over £400,000 for winning at Queen’s Club, so it does seem a little unfair to Tarvet.
But the 21-year-old went on to say that he plans to make the most out of his prize money earnings by spending more on his tennis expenses. He can’t bring home the cash, but so long as his spendings are tennis expenses, he can put it to good use.
He said, “By December, I need to show that profit or prize money minus expenses equals less than $10,000. Tennis is an expensive sport, so hopefully, I can make that happen. Just pay my coaches a little bit extra. I don’t know. We’ll figure something out.”
But should he pull off the upset against Alcaraz in the second round, his expenses may well go through the roof!