‘I can win against anyone’ – British qualifier Tarvet to face Alcaraz

Wimbledon 2025

Venue: All England Club, June 30 – 13 .

After winning his first Wimbledon match, British qualifier Oliver Tarvet said he would never underestimate the threat presented by his second-round encounter with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Leandro Riedi defeated Tarvet, 21, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, to claim a comfortable victory on the opening day of the tournament, which places him 733rd in the world.

Alcaraz, who is hoping to win Wimbledon for the third year in a row, will face a much tougher opponent.

The Spanish player avoided an upset by defeating Italian Fabio Fognini 7-5 6-7 (7-5) 7-5 2-6 6-1 in the sweltering heat, but he stayed on the court for almost five hours.

Tarvet described the challenge ahead of him as “I feel like nothing has changed.”

“I’ve arrived here without really having any expectations.” I have a strong feeling that I can defeat anyone. Alcaraz is not a case in this regard.

He has accomplished a lot in the tennis industry. He’s a difficult person to respect. I’ll just go out there and try to match it up.

“I try to play the ball, not the player,” I said at the end of the day.

As crowds gathered around the edges for his match against fellow qualifier Riedi, who is ranked 506th in the world but was 117th as recently as August last year, Tarvet’s underdog story ensured there was plenty of interest in his match on court four.

In a sparse opening few games, Tarvet got the crucial break in the ninth game before using his serve to break the first set.

As Tarvet battled to break Riedi early in the second, his opponent’s struggle to break through the Briton’s serve led to his loss of the second set, which he did as he broke Riedi.

After more than two hours of playing tennis at temperatures over 30C, Riedi sent a long shot with a serve serve down to give Tarvet the winning break in the third set.

The 21-year-old will experience some disappointment, though it appears he will be entitled to significantly less than the £99, 000 prize money that was given to him for reaching round two despite having a fairytale run at the tournament.

The Englishman has improved his game through the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) system while attending the University of San Diego.

Players are limited in what amount of money they can withdraw from professional tournaments, according to NCAA rules, with Tarvet stating before the competition that they are only permitted to make $10,000 (£7, 290) in profit annually as well as any expenses incurred during the events.

Tarvet joked that filing a sizable expense claim is required by the rule.

“I’ve got to find £60, 000, £70, 000 of expenses, tennis is an expensive sport”, he said.