Oliver Tarvet’s victory was one of the biggest headlines on day one at the Wimbledon Championships.
The British player entered the main draw for the first time, which he successfully reached via the qualifying rounds.
On Monday Tarvet defeated Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round, where he will play Carlos Alcaraz.
But despite securing the biggest win of his career, the 21-year-old is unable to enjoy all the money he earned as a result, and four-time Grand Slam winner Jim Courier is not happy about it.
Jim Courier makes demand to NCAA after Oliver Tarvet’s first round win at Wimbledon
Oliver Tarvet made his main draw debut at Wimbledon in 2025 after he was awarded a wildcard to compete in the qualifying event. His reward for reaching the second round is £99,000 prize money, but he will not have access to most of it.
Tarvet currently plays college tennis at the University of San Diego, which is under the USA’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) banner.
One of their rules restricts how much profit players can make from professional tournaments. In fact, NCAA players are allowed to make just $10,000 (£7,290) in profit each year.
This has infuriated former ATP player Courier, who told the Tennis Channel Live podcast: “ That so stupid. I cannot even begin to tell you how illogical that is when a donor, an alum can give you $100,000 because they like you, but yet you go earn it, you can’t keep that?
“Oh, NCAA, you never failed to deliver for us. You always go low, always go low.” He added: “The NCAA has a lot of problems.
“This is a small one, but this is a loophole that they clearly need to fill in, because if a golfer qualifies and gets to a major, let’s say they get to Augusta or the U.S. Open and they make the cut, you really don’t get to keep that money either?
“I mean, that’s money that’s going to just get ploughed back into… you’re just investing back in our development, you coaches, your travel, all that stuff. It’s just nonsense, but good for Oliver Tarvet. These are, first of all, problems for him.”
Oliver Tarvet is the lowest-ranked player in the men’s Wimbledon draw
Tarvet’s successful qualification for the men’s main draw means he is the lowest ranked player competing at Wimbledon this season.
The Brit is ranked 733rd in the world and he went on to secure the biggest win of his career so far and fulfil a dream of competing at Wimbledon, his home Grand Slam.
“I’ve got to find £60,000, £70,000 of expenses, tennis is an expensive sport,” he said afterwards. Hopefully, I can make that happen, just pay my coaches a little bit extra.
“We’ll figure something out. Fly business class. Obviously, no, I’ll keep humble. This is what you dream of as a little kid. It has always been a long-term goal to be here, so for it to happen so suddenly has been really special.”
