Play the ball, not the player, said Ollie Tarvet before the biggest match of his life against reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz. The flaw was that the ball came at the world No 733 faster than ever before, with more topspin revs and at a more devilish angle. It was still the same sport as his wins on the US college scene in front of a few dozen spectators. And yet this was almost another game entirely, like how laying cheese on bread under the grill is, only technically, cooking.
Alcaraz’s 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory came in two parts. The first set felt like what it might look like if a regular muggle played tennis against the world No 2 on Centre Court. Never before had Tarvet faced a player who combines such extreme levels of speed and spin with unerring accuracy, such that Alcaraz’s groundstrokes rushed over the net before dipping into far-flung corners of the court, hitting 38 winners in all.
