Raducanu out with whimper 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 to 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.
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 secondround match were boosted by Raducanu having won her only previous clash against Garcia at 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 take control with her backhand.
Harriet Dart became the 10th British player to make it through to the second round with a thumping win over Rebeka Masarova.
Dart, ranked 94 in the world, put in an impressive display to win 6-1 6-4, making it the best home performance at Wimbledon since 1984.
The 25-year-old will face eighth seed Jessica Pegula in the second round.
Novak Djokovic fired a warning to his title rivals by easing past Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis with a flawless display, and then vowing to get even better. The defending champion had been unconvincing in his 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Korean Kwon Soon-woo in what was his first match on grass since last year’s final.
But, ominously for the rest of the men’s draw, Djokovic looked more like the player who has not lost a match at SW19 since 2017 as he effortlessly saw off world number 79 Kokkinakis 6-1 6-4 6-2.
The 35-year-old is vying for a fourth straight title and to move level with Pete Sampras on seven, and within one of men’s record-holder Roger Federer, and on this form it is hard to see anyone stopping him.
After completing victory in exactly two hours, Djokovic said: “I’m happy with my performance. A really high-quality performance.
“I must say I’m quite pleased with the way I’ve raised the level of tennis in two days.
“Hopefully I can keep that trajectory, just thinking about the next challenge and hope things will get better as the tournament goes on.”
British number one Cameron Norrie survived a big scare to make it through to the third round with a 6-4 3-6 5-7 6-0 6-2 victory over Juame Munar on Court One.
Norrie made sure he prevented any further misery for home players by coming back to triumph in five sets not long after Raducanu had exited.
Ryan Peniston’s impressive summer on British soil is over after he lost in straight sets to American Steve Johnson.
Peniston reached the quarter-finals at Nottingham, Queen’s and Eastbourne but he lost 6-3 6-2 6-4 in the second round on his maiden grand slam appearance.