Oliver Tarvet’s Wimbledon campaign might be over, but few will forget his fairytale run in a hurry.
Ranked 719th in the world at the start of the event, he soared through qualifying to earn his spot in the main draw.
He was the talk of the town, with that conversation only growing in noise when he actually won his first-round match to set up a clash with Carlos Alcaraz.
Already he had succeeded, and so today’s defeat came as no surprise.
But, with the reality of college now something he has to reconsider, there are a few big decisions looming in his immediate future.
Tracy Austin gives Oliver Tarvet career advice after Wimbledon run
Speaking to the BBC, Austin sought to offer some advice to the Brit, who seemingly has a huge career decision to make at such a young age.
She sought to offer a deeper explanation of the situation, before then admitting what she would do were she in Tarvet’s position.
The 62-year-old stated: ‘There is NIL money, where colleges can pay you. There are some players playing college tennis now who are getting over $100,000. So I don’t know the ins and outs of that, but maybe with that there will be a donor who can help him.
‘If I were him, and he has three years under his belt, I think I might go that one extra year. The University of San Diego is quite an impressive school and finish and graduate.’
All of the talk regarding this relates to the fact that Tarvet cannot claim all of his Wimbledon prize money due to college regulations.
Oliver Tarvet stunned the nation at Wimbledon
Qualifying for Wimbledon alone marked an outstanding feat for the 21-year-old, so to exit the competition having lost to the two-time defending champion is an admirable effort.
And, he did not get rolled over by the Spaniard, pushing him hard in every single set despite the scoreline.
What is most indicative of how the numbers failed to tell the full story is that despite the first set finishing 6-1 to Alcaraz, it actually took 44 minutes to finish. That was longer than the second set, which finished 6-4.
He can return to San Diego with so many experiences that will far surpass those any of his classmates boast, with so much promise and thus so many options.
With obvious talent, whichever option he chooses for the future of his career will surely result in us seeing a lot more of him in the coming years.
