Tennis-Alcaraz ends Tarvet fairytale to reach Wimbledon third round

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By Toby Davis

LONDON (Reuters) -Carlos Alcaraz was in no mood to suffer probably the biggest upset in Wimbledon history as he crushed world number 733 Ollie Tarvet’s hopes of a fairytale victory to reach the third round with a clinical 6-1 6-4 6-4 win on Wednesday.

Fired up by a home crowd who could not get enough of Tarvet’s tireless running and dogged resistance, the Briton was more than a capable sparring partner for Alcaraz, whose heavyweight hitting was in the end simply too much for the lowest-ranked player to begin the men’s singles draw.

Tarvet, who came through three rounds of qualifying to earn a place in the tournament, showed no lack of belief ahead of the contest, proclaiming that he was confident he could beat anyone, making a point of lumping Alcaraz into the ‘anyone’ category.

The Spaniard had only once before lost to a player as lowly ranked as Tarvet – and that was as a 14-year-old schoolboy in his first professional event.

Yet while the odds of an upset were vanishingly small, there were moments when Tarvet looked like he had the tools to unnerve the Spaniard, who was impressed with what he saw.

“It doesn’t matter that he was 700 in the world,” said Alcaraz. “I was impressed with his level. I think he played a really good match.”

At times it seemed like Tarvet’s tireless ability to chase down every lost cause and his fist-pumping celebrations at every gained point were getting to Alcaraz, like a yappy puppy bothering a much larger dog.

Alcaraz, however, responded to Tarvet’s fleeting threats to his supremacy by barking back with huge forehand missiles to assert his undoubted authority on the contest.

WRECKING BALL

The Briton’s first-round opponent had described him as a wall, but twice defending champion Alcaraz is the sort of wrecking ball who pays little heed to such obstructions.

The five-times Grand Slam champion had to save eight break points in the first set, but lost only one game and broke twice himself to move ahead in the contest.

The 21-year-old Tarvet, a U.S. college student in San Diego, finally broke the Spaniard’s serve to go 2-0 up in the second set but that seemed to jolt Alcaraz awake and he won the next four points to break back immediately.

Another break in the ninth game was enough for Alcaraz to take the second set but the contest still had flickers of life left in it.

The world number two broke to go 3-2 up in the third set but Tarvet, who had no intention of lying down and accepting his fate, struck back in the next game.

Alcaraz was again roused into action and once more won the following four points to claim the decisive break that allowed him to see out the contest.

A thundering service winner on match point brought the crowd to their feet, as much to acclaim Tarvet’s efforts as 22-year-old Alcaraz’s comfortable win.

Alcaraz patted the Briton on the back as he left the court before graciously saluting his opponent’s performance.

“I just loved his game to be honest,” the Spaniard said on court. “I knew at the beginning I had to play my best tennis.”

(Reporting by Toby Davis; Editing by Ken Ferris)