Carlos Alcaraz can’t catch a sigh at the moment, can he? Weeks after winning the French Open title, the Spanish sensation is eyeing another Wimbledon title. While he began his title defense with a nerve-wracking victory over Fabio Fognini in five sets, Alcaraz was back to his best earlier today. Facing local star Oliver Tarvet, Alcaraz took no time in dispatching the challenge of the British sensation in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. With this, he also created a unique first!

For the first time in his career, Alcaraz was up against a British player at Wimbledon. Never has he faced a player from the UK here and experienced a different playing atmosphere today, with the crowd rooting for his opponent instead of him, which rarely happens at Wimbledon.

During the post-match interview, he expressed how he felt while playing against Tarvet, saying, “Well… As I said after the first round, I know it’s not personal. I’m really grateful for the support I am receiving here after every match. Every day, every practice, it’s unbelievable. Today I played someone from here. Playing at home is not easy. They were really respectful to me and to my opponent as well. I love playing in this atmosphere and this court. Once again, I enjoyed so much.”

Owing to his thrilling gameplay on the court, Alcaraz is a much-loved player all across the globe. As a result, the crowd always cheers for him. However, on this occasion, the local fans were very vocal in support of Tarvet. Nonetheless, Alcaraz showed tremendous professionalism to complete an easy victory and move into the third round. It will be interesting to see if he can win yet another Wimbledon title. After all, he won it in 2023 and 2024, leaving behind Novak Djokovic as the runner-up.

Meanwhile, it was a wonderful campaign for the 21-year-old Tarvet, who entered the main draw as a qualifier. Thus, he earned some heartwarming words from Alcaraz after their match.

Carlos Alcaraz has a message for Oliver Tarvet!

Having qualified for the main draw, Tarvet was the lowest-ranked player there, at No. 733 in the world. However, he put on a gritty display to reach the second round and eventually lost against Alcaraz. With Tarvet trying his best against the Spaniard, Alcaraz acknowledged his efforts and sent a heartwarming message to his opponent after their encounter. Alcaraz said, “First of all, I have to give big praise to Oliver, his second match on the tour, I just loved his game, to be honest, the level he played in his first match on Centre Court, I know that is really difficult. I found the right way. I’m trying to enjoy every match; it doesn’t matter if I’m winning or losing. That’s the key in the last two or three months to my consecutive winning streak.”

The road was not easy for Tarvet. “Obviously, there were a lot of nerves,” he said post-match. “I’ve said before that I try and treat every match as the same, try and play the ball, not the player or the situation. As much as I tried to do that today, I woke up a couple of times in the night from the adrenaline. In the car, my heart rate was going quicker than it usually does.” Though the scoreline was one-sided, the British player went toe-to-toe with Alcaraz. In fact, his serve was just 1.2mph slower on average, while also winning the majority of mid-length rallies (5-8 shots).

With this win, Alcaraz’s hopes of defending the Wimbledon crown remain intact. He will next face the winner of the match between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jan-Lennard Struff, which can be followed on EssentiallySports’ Live Blog. It’ll be interesting to see if Alcaraz can repeat the heroics this time around and defend his title. What do you think?