Having wound himself up for this duel with a declaration that he could beat “anybody”, Oliver Tarvet played as if he believed it, treating Carlos Alcaraz almost as just another one of his hitting partners at the University of San Diego.

After being blown away by the world No 2 in the first set, the British qualifier competed gamely in a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 defeat and an advert for a US university education

For one game at least, it looked like Carlos Alcaraz could be in for another surprisingly tough encounter on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.