Emma Raducanu overpowered in straight sets loss at Wimbledon
Emma Raducanu has been beaten by the more experienced Caroline Garcia in the second round of Wimbledon, putting an end to her hopes of Grand Slam glory on home turf.
The defeat marks the second Slam in a row that the Brit has lost in round two, after she fell to Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the same stage in Paris last month.
The 19-year-old was making just her second appearance on Centre Court, with her first outing coming just two days earlier when she beat Alison Van Uytvanck from Belgium in straight sets.
Garcia, from France, has good pedigree on the grass, having won three titles on the surface in her career, the most recent of which came less than a week ago in Bad Homburg, Germany.
But the Frenchwoman, who was making her 9th appearance at the All England Club, made a nervy start on her Centre Court debut, opening the match with a double fault.
Despite the early mistake, Garcia quickly settled, holding serve before immediately breaking Raducanu in her next service game.
And Garcia, currently ranked number 55 in the world, consistently showed exactly why she is a former world number number four throughout the first set, racing into a 5-2 lead.
The Frenchwoman’s aggressive approach to the set ultimately proved decisive, as she wrapped up the opener 6-3 in just under 40 minutes, after hitting 11 winners.
And Garcia continued to seize the initiative in the second set, twice leading the teenager by a break.
Although Raducanu was able to break back on one occasion, the Frenchwoman was ultimately too strong for the US Open champion, sealing a 6-3 6-3 victory with a powerful backhand crosscourt winner.
Speaking after the match, Garcia said – “I was really preparing for this match well, so I was really pleased with the way I fought”.
She will now play the 33rd seed Shuai Zhang for a place in the fourth round.
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