IT’S TOO MUCH TOO YOUNG FOR EMMA
Raducanu bows out on Centre stage
THERE are times when the nation is reminded Emma Raducanu is a girl who should be mainly grappling with the routine problems facing a teenager in modern society. This was one of them. Not only did the 19-year-old have to deal with a hard-hitting, accomplished Caroline Garcia nine years her senior.
She had to deal with the expectation, the pressure of a Centre Court crowd’s sense of entitlement, the burden of being the poster player of these Championships.
Not only that, it needs remembering Raducanu came into Wimbledon seriously undercooked, withdrawing injured from her preparation tournament in Nottingham earlier in the month.
In contrast, Garcia, a former world No.4, won her warm-up event in Germany and has now won seven grass court matches in a row.
It all proved too much for a youngster whose US Open triumph last year was – and will remain – one of the most remarkable achievements in the annals of British sport.
Not that there should be too many excuses for Raducanu against the unseeded French player who has not been beyond the third round of Wimbledon.
While Garcia’s game plan – to put huge pressure on Raducanu’s weak second serve – worked to perfection, the truth is that the Brit went down in a blaze of unforced errors.
And the truth is that, apart from the moment Raducanu – having lost the first set 6-3 – broke back in the second set to level it at three apiece, there were precious few spells in the match when she appeared to have any sort of momentum.
Raducanu duly lost the next three games on the spin and could not wait to exit stage left.
As usual, the social media response to Raducanu’s defeat at SW19 was an emphatic overreaction.
One-tournament wonder, too many commercial distractions... all that nonsense.
There may have been minor freakish elements to her fantastic triumph in New York last year but no one wins a Grand Slam through pure fortune.
OK, she hasn’t won successive matches at a Grand Slam since that US Open win but that is no disgrace for someone who is still, essentially, a rookie.
The reality is that Raducanu is a young player not grappling with those problems facing a normal teenager but trying to learn the ropes of a brutally competitive professional sport.
Tim Henman was spot on when he said: “It’s all a learning curve but this is a bit of a reality check for Emma.
“There are a lot of very good players on the women’s tour and Emma is learning her trade.
“She will go and lick her wounds and understand where she has to improve.”
As this evidence showed, she needs to improve a lot.
But despite this defeat, there is also no reason to think she won’t do just that.