British No1 brushed aside by clinical Garcia’s power play
Caroline Garcia (France) bt Emma Raducanu (GB) 6-3, 6-3
In the curious lingua franca used on the tennis tour, the word “routine” becomes a verb. Example: yesterday, Emma Raducanu got “routined” by Caroline Garcia, the former world No4.
The phrase is used when a superior player has brushed aside a pretender who simply did not measure up to the same standard. Sadly for British tennis lovers, that was the case on Centre Court. Raducanu had very little penetration on her strokes and no apparent plan for making up the obvious power gap against her more aggressive opponent.
The statistics behind Garcia’s 6-3, 6-3 victory – which occupied only 86 minutes – are damning. Raducanu was broken no fewer than five times in her nine service games. She managed a paltry 12 clean winners, just four of which came on her weaker forehand side. And she went to the net only twice in the entire match, preferring to play identikit baseline rallies even though she was being duffed up with predictable regularity.
For Garcia, who had arrived full of confidence after winning a title in Bad Homburg last week, this was a dream match-up: an opponent who serves up stacks of neutral balls to feast on. She must have felt as if she were enjoying a gentle practice session against a ball machine.
The data on Garcia suggests that her cross-court backhand should be avoided wherever possible. Best to make her hit up the middle of the court. Because, if you leave the ball in that left-hand corner without rushing her, she will lean on the ball with her powerful double-hander and send it scudding deep and dangerously into your own territory.
In cricketing terms, Garcia is the equivalent of a batsman who likes to hook and pull. And Raducanu kept feeding those shots, like a medium pacer who thinks – without any supporting evidence – that they can dish out the chin music.
The British No1 has been short of ideal preparation because of the side strain she sustained in Nottingham three weeks ago, and there were signs of weariness in her serve speeds, which were averaging only 95mph on first delivery by the end.
“It was first-strike tennis,” Raducanu said. “She served really well today. I didn’t really have any looks, I felt, or many second serves. Even when I did, they were tricky ones, with the wind holding them up.”
Asked if she was still feeling any physical after-effects from her injury, Raducanu replied: “I didn’t feel anything out there. I declared myself fully fit when I walked out
onto the court on the first day. But I’ve played seven hours of tennis in a month. To even compete with these girls at this level and win a round I think is a pretty good achievement.”
Although the crowd tried to lift their golden girl there was a strangely flat feeling around Centre Court. As soon as Garcia broke emphatically in the second game, closing it out with a scorching backhand return winner, most of the more knowledgeable spectators could see that Raducanu was outmatched.
What has gone wrong since the US Open? Well, Raducanu was always going to struggle with her sudden elevation to superstar status. She has also spent much of the past nine months struggling with various ailments and minor injuries. But if there is one obvious red flag, it is her forehand. Any biomechanics expert will tell you that it has regressed substantially since she enjoyed such success last summer, probably as a result of all the different inputs she has received in almost a full season of coaching disruption.
If Raducanu is to be more than just a one-hit wonder, she needs to address that issue with several weeks of sustained hard work alongside someone she trusts. Yes, she is athletic and strong-minded. Yes, she is still good enough to pick up points on the WTA Tour, where her results this year place her at a moderate but hardly disastrous 64th in the world.
But trying to navigate your way through a grand-slam match with a vanilla forehand is like driving a racing car with a missing gear or a damaged front wing. No matter how ambitious, dedicated or fearless you are, you will not be spending much time on the podium.