WIMBLEDON, England – University of San Diego Men's Tennis rising senior Oliver Tarvet cruised to his first career Grand Slam win in straight sets at Wimbledon Monday morning.
 
Up next for the Torero: the consensus best player in the world, Carlos Alcaraz on Wimbledon's Centre Court Wednesday.
 
While both are similar in age – Tarvet 21, Alcaraz 22 – and both are undefeated in the first round of Grand Slams, Alcaraz is a five-time major winner, including the last two Wimbledon's.
 
Tarvet, ranked No. 733 in the world currently, is up for it, however. He's already topped tennis' 124^th, 126^th and 210^th-ranked players in the qualifying stage last week. His first career tour event main draw match Monday, he cruised through, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
 
"Obviously, I'll just try to treat Wednesday as any other match," Tarvet said. "I'm really overjoyed to be in this situation, all the hard work in the last few years has clearly paid off."
 
Those last few years has been spent on America's Most Beautiful campus as the leader of the Toreros, where under coaches Ryan Keckley and assistant Alex Funkhouser he's blossomed into a multiple-time All-American and WCC team title-winning player of the year.
 
"Ollie continues to impress in more ways than one," Funkhouser said after Mondays win. "He deserves to be in this position through the consistent work he puts in day to day. That work has caused him to believe that he can not only compete at this level, but win at this level."
 
What makes this historic even more special for Tarvet is that he grew up in St. Albans, England, just 23 miles – about an hour's drive around London – from Wimbledon, England and grew up going to matches as a kid.
 
"It's a dream come true as a little kid," he said. "It's what you always work towards. I'm a lot further ahead than I was three years ago and that's based on the teammates, the culture we have, the dedication that my coaches put in … I couldn't be more thankful for USD and everything they've done for me."
 
Also representing USD at Wimbledon in his first Grand Slam main draw is August Holmgren ('22) who faces world No. 47 Quentin Halys of France in his first-round match tomorrow, July 1, not before 5 a.m. PST, 1 p.m. GMT on court 6, streamed live on ESPN+.
 
More details on Tarvet's center stage match against Alcaraz will be announced following the conclusion of first round play Tuesday afternoon.
 
"He's playing great tennis on grass so if he's in the second round he deserves … he has a great level, so I have to be focused on that," said Alcaraz of Tarvet following his full five-set, four and a half hour, first round win Monday afternoon.
 
Toreros Tarvet and Holmgren Qualify for Wimbledon Main Draw
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.
 
"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."