LONDON (Reuters) – Emma Raducanu’s Wimbledon hopes were crushed on Centre Court by France’s Caroline Garcia as the golden girl of British sport suffered a 6-3 6-3 second-round loss on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old, who rocketed to fame with her spellbinding U.S. Open triumph last year, did not play badly but had no answer to Garcia’s superior firepower.
Garcia, a former top-10 player, dominated the opening set with her aggressive hitting unsettling the 10th-seeded Raducanu.
She continued blazing away in the second set as Raducanu, despite overwhelming support, fell away.
Garcia broke serve at 3-3 and held for a 5-3 lead before clinching victory in the next game with a backhand pass, her 25th winner of the match.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
