Carlos Alcaraz bossed the lowest-ranked player left in the draw on Wednesday, with the two-time Wimbledon titlewinner posting a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 result over British qualifier Olivier Tarvet to move to the third round.  

Alcaraz is defending his title and hoping for three in a row next weekend as the second seed backs up the grass title he won at Queen’s club last month.

No. 733 Tarvet – Ollie to his friends – has played a limited schedule as he attends University in California.

Alcaraz is now riding a 20-match win streak, with titles in Rome, Roland Garros and on grass at Queen’s Club, London..

“I’ve just found the right way,” the second seed said. “I’m trying to enjoy every match.

“That’s been the key to the last two or three months. I want to enjoy and keep going forward. It’s a gift;  I want to make the most of my time at Wimbledon.”

Cam Norrie scratched out a British win as he left Frances Tiafoe frustrated by playing against the crowd in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 loss.

The winner was more than pleased with his showing: “I played an unreal match. All around complete. Serving well, moving well, solving the dropshot really well, which in the past I haven’t done that well. 

“Hitting the slice well. Coming forward well. Being clinical.”

He added: “Especially in the first set, I was playing well, serving well. I did  nothing wrong, but lost 6-4. 

“I just tried to tell myself to keep doing what I’m doing, not really changing too much and hoping his level would drop a little bit. 

“It did ever so slightly. I took my chances when I needed to. I was pretty calm. I was really enjoying my tennis out there.”

American 12th seed Tiafoe has never been past the Wimbledon fourth round, which he managed only once three years ago.

Tiafoe said playing against the home crowd did not particularly bother him, but Norrie sometimes did.

“He was super amped, saying, ‘C’mon’ from the first game, which is definitely annoying –  that part bothered me more than the crowd,” Tiafoe said.

“The biggest thing is that he kept going and playing much better because of the crowd. I don’t think he plays as well if the crowd wasn’t behind him.

“They really pushed him, and he started believing.”

Teenaged young gun Joao Fonseca cotinued to impress in his Wimbledon debut, with the 18-year-old overwhelming Eastbourne finalist Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 after three and a quarter hours, striking more than 50 winners.

Fonseca is the first Brazilian man into the third round here since Thomaz Bellucci in 2010.

“It’s a thing to be proud of myself, for sure; it’s a great achievement,” he said.

“It’s just an opportunity to be here, to play this amazing tournament. Now being in the third round is just amazing. 

“I’m so very happy the way that I’m developing on this surface, I’m evolving.. so  happy with it.”

Chile’s Nicolas Jarry – Fonseca’s next opponent – sent American Learner Tien home 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, but US player Brandon Nakashima beat Bu Yunchokete of China 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 91), 6-4.  

Portugal’s Nuno Borges accounted for Brit Billy Harris 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7). 

The 14th seeded Andrey Rublev got past South African Lloyd Harris with a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3 fightback after losing in the opening round a year ago.

Valentin Royer lost 48 hours after stunning Stefanos Tsitsipas, with the French qualifier taken down by veteran compatriot Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (1) in nearly three and a half hours on the lawns.

British tabloids have begun the pre-Wimbledon buildup by floating rumours of a budding Emma Raducanu-Carlos Alcaraz love match.

The red tops are apparently hoping that the dream pairing of the tennis duo might be the talk of the courts when main draw play begins on Monday at SW19.

A minor twig – the two will play one-off mixed doubles at the US Open in August – provided the fuel for a bonfire of speculation, with London’s Mail Online rolling out a body language expert to assess the pair of Grand Slam winners..

A headline insisted that the players “spark romance rumours as they are spotted laughing and joking together ahead of US Open team-up.”

The local expert also suggested that Raducanu exhibited “hair-preening” gestures and looked “coy” when the topic was raised.

Meanwhile, the Sun said the gossip was the ‘talk of Queen’s”, adding that ‘there is something going on between them’.

The body language guru said that Raducanu’s “gaze became evasive” when the talk turned to Alcaraz, like her, aged 22. The researcher added that Raducanu smiled as she mentioned past contacts with the Spaniard, playing with her hair like a “fan-girl.”

The pair first cema in direct contact at Wimbledon four years ago during the pandemic edition of the Grand Slam when they played doubles together.

‘He’s so nice, very  happy, amazing values and just a really positive light to be around,’ she said,

‘It was really cool to go through that tournament together and then I kept going through the US Open, we were staying in touch for the whole time and, yeah, it’s nice.’

Main photo:- Emma Raducanu watches Carlos Alcaraz at Queens Club

Spanish powerhouse Carlos Alcaraz backed up his Queen’s club grass title from a year ago, with the world No 2 defeating rising Czech Jiri Lehecka 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2 on Sunday to win his fifth trophy of the season.

The top seed now takes the role of title favourite when Wimbledon begins a week from Monday.

Alcaraz won his fifth title of the season with the defeat of Lehecka and kept his win streak alive at 18 straight.

But the former No. 1 said a repeat title in west London was a bit of a surprise to him,

“I came here with only two days of practice and with few expectations. I had hoped to play two or three matches max,

“The goal was to get comfortable on the grass and get used to it as soon as possible.

Alcaraz appeared to be cruising after winning the opening set and fighting from 4-2 down in the second-set tiebreaker.

But an ace from Lehecka gae hindi a 5-4 lead, with the first-time grass finalist levelling the match as he won the second set two points later with a service winner..

The Spaniard said he told himself to keep battling in the third set, a strategy which paid dividends with a break for 3-1 as he regained control.

Alcaraz ran out a 5-2 margin, winning on his first match point.

“Lifting the trophy by playing such good tennis at the end of the week is just amazing,” the winner said.

“(Tough early matches) helped me and by the end of my second match I was feeling great this week. I got used to the grass really quickly.

“I realised what I have to do on the grass and how I have to play. There was nothing else to worry about.”

Alcaraz is already counting down to his Wimbledon start as two-time defending champion on June 30, when he opens play at the All England club as holder.

“I’m super-excited, it will be a beautiful moment” he said of the start of the prestige Grand Slam 

“Winning the title here is the best preparation that I could ask for. I hope to keep the good form I’ve found this week and start Wimbledon in the best way possible.”

Queen’s marked the fifth consecutive final for Alcaraz this season dating to Monte Carlo in early April.

Alcaraz increased his season victories to 42 as he won his 21st career title. Lehecka was the second Czech man to play a Queen’s final after 1989-1990 champion Ivan Lendl. 

Main photo:-Carlos Alcaraz wins Queens Trophy – by LTA/HSBC