Big praise to Oliver Alcaraz salutes Tarvet after British student pushes him to the last

As a script it surely would have been rejected by Hollywood for being too outlandish.

- Sean Ingle

A 21-year-old British student, who has never played on the main tennis tour before, suddenly finds himself on Centre Court with 15,000 people cheering him on. And on the other side of the net is the Wimbledon champion.

Yet that was the situation that Oliver Tarvet, the world No 733 from St Albans, found himself in yesterday as he lined up to face the brilliant Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.

And while there was no fairytale ending, with Tarvet losing 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, he left to a standing ovation and warm words from his illustrious opponent, who predicted that he could achieve great things. "Big praise to Oliver," said Alcaraz. "Only his second match on the tour and I just love his game. I had to be really focused and play my best tennis. If he keeps practising hard and playing at a professional level, he can go far."

It has been some journey. A week ago, nobody in tennis circles had heard of Tarvet, who studies communications and marketing at the University of San Diego.