WIMBLEDON, England – Two University of San Diego Toreros – rising senior
Oliver Tarvet and alum August Holmgren ('22) – punched their tickets to their first Grand Slams Thursday, the Wimbledon main draw, via three big wins in qualifiers.
"There's a lot of emotions, but the main one is just happiness," said Tarvet. "It's a dream come true, and I'm really happy to be part of it."
Tarvet, the world No. 719 player, becomes the lowest-ranked British international to claim a spot in the main draw since 2017 after beating tennis' 124
th, 126
th and 210
th-ranked players in the qualifying stage this week. Tarvet hails from St. Albans, England, just 23 miles – about an hour's drive around London – from Wimbledon, England. His final qualifying match Thursday was his first career best-of-five-sets match – his first-round match Monday will be his second.
Holmgren, a Danish international and world No. 195 beat the 179
th, 190
th and 376
th ranked players to turn his third straight Grand Slam qualifier wins (also at the French and Australian Opens) into his first main draw. His final qualifying match Thursday was nearly four hours long and three of the five sets went to tie breaks.
The full, 128-player draw for The Championships at Wimbledon will be released tomorrow, June 27, with the possibility of facing the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, while first round play will begin on Monday, June 30.
"Incredible achievement for these young men to qualify for one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world," USD Head Coach
Ryan Keckley said.
Both Holmgren and Tarvet were multiple-time NCAA All-Americans in singles and doubles, and conference championship-winning WCC Players of the Year at San Diego under Keckley. Holmgren was the 2022 National runner-up, falling to current World No. 10, American Ben Shelton. Tarvet swept the ITA All-American National Championships in September and finished ranked fifth in all of college tennis this spring with a 25-2 record. They are two of just 18 players in Wimbledon's main draw to play three-plus years of college tennis.
"I train hard at the University of San Diego where I'm at," said Tarvet. "We put in a lot of hard hours and it's clearly paying off. College [tennis] is unbelievable if you find the right coaches – my head coach
Ryan Keckley and assistant coach
Alex Funkhouser who's with me right now, they do an incredible job and it's just so well organized, so well structured. It's difficult not to succeed when you have everything given to you, as long as you show up every day and give it 100-percent, it's really difficult not to improve."
"In my 16 years of college coaching, I have rarely seen the level of discipline and daily work ethic that August and OIlie have demonstrated," said Keckley. "Their dedication is clearly reflected in their outstanding results this week. It comes as no surprise that these two exceptional Toreros have earned the right to compete on the grand stage in their very first Grand Slam appearances. The future is undoubtedly bright for both these players and the Torero program as a whole."
