Amateur tennis sensation Oliver Tarvet is set to receive his £99,000 in Wimbledon prize money by classifying it as “actual necessary expenses incurred over the course of a calendar year.”
The world No. 733 from St Albans is scheduled to play against Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion, in the second round on Wednesday.
This is a truly remarkable underdog story. Should he manage an improbable victory, it would undoubtedly rank as one of the biggest upsets in the history of the championship.
Tarvet has an intriguing background, participating in tennis only part-time due to his studies at the University of San Diego. The 21-year-old, who receives no funding from the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association), is entering his senior year, majoring in Communications with a minor in Marketing.
His college career has enabled him to play thousands of matches within the structured collegiate system.
Under the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules, college athletes are generally not permitted to accept prize money from tournaments outside of the college circuit. However, his coach confirmed that Tarvet is allowed to claim back substantial expenses, which would cover travel, accommodation, and coaching fees.
Ryan Keckley, the head men`s tennis coach at the University of San Diego, arrived in the UK early Monday morning, having flown via Chicago, just in time to see his promising player win his first-round match against Swiss qualifier Leandro Riedi.
Despite battling jet lag, Keckley explained an NCAA bylaw, which he described as somewhat outdated, often referred to as the `$10,000 rule`.
“But there have been so many changes of how you can get money into people`s back pockets.”
“One of the changes that took place is you are allowed actual necessary expenses over the course of a calendar year. As long as you have the expenses to show, then all good.”
“So say he played a tournament in June and he flew there. It’s 1000 bucks and the hotel is another 1000 bucks. And the meals are another 1000 bucks. That’s $3,000 expenses. Then he goes and plays another tournament, another tournament, another tournament. Four tournaments.”
“Times 3000 by four and that’s $12,000 he can offset his expenses by. Put a coach on that for $2000-4000 a week. That adds up.”
“What every college player has to do is work through that, until the NCAA kind of rights the ship. But that’s going to be a work in progress.”
“No profit. It’s all actual and necessary expenses.”
Keckley expressed confidence in his player`s abilities.
“In my opinion, Oli has proven himself worthy of any candidate here. And that’s the beauty about sport, you just never know.”
“Do I think he has the capability of going out there and beating Alcaraz? Absolutely, because every challenge that we put in front of him, he’s done sensational.”
