Oliver Tarvet proves to be a pest but Carlos Alcaraz swats him aside, writes RIATH AL-SAMARRAI

The good news for Oliver Tarvet is he can stop fretting over creative new ways to keep his prize money. The bad news is that scoreboards are also rather adept at providing an iffy account.

This was one of those days, given the raw numbers would have us believe this second-round tie went precisely as we expected — a victory in straight sets for Carlos Alcaraz.

But in the flesh, on the grass, there was far more nuance and within it was the joy of watching a college student from St Albans make an absolute nuisance of himself.

He swung for the fences, he turned lost causes into won points, and, on multiple occasions, he caused sustained periods of discomfort for the man ranked 731 spots higher on the ladder. Maybe we all get a little silly in our celebration of Brits in the first week of a Slam, but Tarvet went far beyond the standardised aim of avoiding a hiding against the two-time champion.

On that latter front, it should be noted that winning nine games left the 21-year-old amateur just one shy of what Novak Djokovic managed in the 2024 final on this same court. In the minutiae, only fine margins separated Tarvet from plucky-pest status and that of outright irritant.

The first set was the perfect example, given Alcaraz took it 6-1 but faced eight break points across three of his service games, including three in the very first of the match.

The Spaniard then trailed briefly by a break in the second set before facing further resistance when he threatened to pull away in the third.

As Alcaraz put it: ‘I want to give credit to Oliver — I love his game. The level he played in his first match on Centre Court, which I know is difficult, was great. It doesn’t matter he was 700 in the world. I was impressed with his level.’

Time will tell where this leads for Tarvet. He will return to the University of San Diego to see out his development on the US college circuit, where he had already made a name for himself as a strong prospect.

Presumably, there will also be a trip to an accountant to see how much of his £99,000 prize he is permitted to trouser, given college rules set a limit of £7,300 in profit per year plus expenses.

His challenge now, aside from the compilation of big receipts to offset what he has to forfeit, will be in providing a follow-up act on the court. Having won three qualifiers to get here, a match in the main draw and given Alcaraz a good game, the signs are healthy. ‘It was just really special,’ he said. ‘It’s not every day you get to play against maybe the best player in the world.

‘Obviously there were a lot of nerves. I’ve said before that I try to treat every match as the same, try to play the ball, not the player or the situation. As much as I tried to do that today, I woke up a couple times in the night from the adrenaline. In the car, my heart rate was going quicker than usual.

‘But a big emphasis was to enjoy the moment and enjoy the opportunity because it doesn’t come around too often. I think I did a pretty good job of that.’

For Alcaraz, there will be a modicum of urgency around a need to improve. He declared himself ‘happy’ with his performance, but after labouring past Fabio Fognini in the first round this encounter saw similar inconsistencies with his forehand and serve.

That was demonstrated in an eight-minute opening game, in which Tarvet had three chances to break, and especially at the start of the second, when the Brit broke for 2-0.

By then, Tarvet was moderating his balance between errors and aggression, but a reminder of Alcaraz’s different level came from a sudden, brief jump up to second gear — he broke back to love. He did likewise at 4-4.

The third saw the Spaniard snatch the early advantage but, again, the stone would not leave his shoe and Tarvet got himself level. A delay to the inevitable, of course, but still it was far more competitive than anyone expected.