LONDON – University of San Diego Men's Tennis rising senior Oliver Tarvet saw his dream run from qualifying to Centre Court at Wimbledon come to an end after a clash with the world's best, Carlos Alcaraz.
 
The Toreros aren't through with Wimbledon, however, as alum August Holmgren ('22) has also made a tremendous run from qualifiers to the second round of his first career Grand Slam. The Dane plays 21^st-seed Tomas Machac Thursday as the second match on court 12. Holmgren, ranked world No. 192, toppled No. 46 Quentin Halys in straight sets on Tuesday.
 
Despite the score of 1-6, 4-6, 4-6, Tarvet, ranked world No. 733 put forth a valiant effort against world No. 2 Alcaraz in front of a packed crowd in Wimbledon's main stadium.
 
"I have to give a big credit to Oliver," Alcaraz said after the match. "I just love his game, to be honest. The level he played in his first match on Centre Court – I know that it is really difficult. He showed really great tennis … he played with such good passion."
 
The Torero took Alcaraz to a deuce in each of the Spaniard's service games in the first set and finally busted through with a break to start the second set up 2-0, also later having multiple game leads in the third set. Alcaraz, however, showed why he is a five-time major winner, including the last two Wimbledon's, and is trending towards a third straight at 22 years old.
 
What makes the realized dream 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 that Centre Court at Wimbledon and grew up going to matches as a kid.
 
"It's definitely the most special day of my life," Tarvet said. "It's not every day that you get to play against the best player in the world. I think I did a good job of enjoying the moment and playing some good tennis at the same time."
 
He 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. With success on the court and being a local product, Tarvet became a sensation with the crowd behind him throughout, even against a world-wide fan-favorite in Alcaraz.
 
"It's surreal," said 10^th-year USD Head Coach Ryan Keckley. "With as well as he's done with everything since he got out here a couple weeks ago, he's just been a superstar out here and there's not a person in Great Britain that doesn't know the name Oliver Tarvet now."
 
Despite the unprecedented professional tour success, Tarvet says he still plans to return to USD for a fourth season with National Championship goals, citing his coaches such as Keckley and assistant Alex Funkhouser for his success at Wimbledon.
 
"College has been such a big part of my career and my life that there's definitely some things that I want to achieve before I go full-time [pro]." In a separate interview Tarvet stated that his next career goal is to, "win NCAAs with USD."
 
"The level in college is really high," Alcaraz said. "If he stays in college or goes professional right now – both choices are pretty good."
 
Holmgren's second round match will be streamed live on ESPN+ as the second match on at court 12 with an approximate start time of 5:30 a.m. PST or 1:30 p.m. BST. Additional coverage can be found on the USD Men's Tennis social media channels. Draws, results, stats and more can be found at Wimbledon.com.
 
READ: USD's Tarvet Dominant in Wimbledon Debut, Set to Face Worlds Best Alcaraz
READ: Toreros Tarvet and Holmgren Qualify for Wimbledon Main Draw