Emma Raducanu suffers second-round exit at Wimbledon

Emma Raducanu’s Wimbledon return proved to be an anti-climax as the US Open champion exited in the second round with defeat by Caroline Garcia.

Living up to the hype has proved impossible for the 19-year-old so far and, a year after rocketing to stardom with a run to the fourth round and then achieving the unthinkable in New York, she slipped to a meek 6-3 6-3 loss on Centre Court.

Short of matches after three weeks out with a side strain, Raducanu was simply unable to find the level required to match Frenchwoman Garcia across the 86-minute contest.

Game, set and match - @CaroGarcia! The Frenchwoman proves too strong for Emma Raducanu, winning 6-3, 6-3 #Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/2fIL3GjSFi

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 29, 2022

Raducanu’s mantra this tournament has very much been that, whatever she achieved last year, she remains a relative novice with everything to gain simply from experiencing these environments.

She was quick to dismiss the idea that her main emotion after a first Centre Court victory on Monday against Alison Van Uytvanck should be relief.

But expectations for a grand slam champion are inescapable and hopes for her second-round match were boosted by Raducanu having won her only previous clash against Garcia in Indian Wells in March.

The Frenchwoman is ranked down at 55 but, having been tipped as a future world number one by Andy Murray as a teenager, has been as high as number four.

She struggled in the first round against Britain’s Yuriko Miyazaki but had arrived late from Germany, where she won a tournament on grass at the weekend.

Garcia had promised to be aggressive and she was as good as her word, stepping into the court on Raducanu’s second serve in particular and looking to