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05:10 PM
Raducanu 3-6, 2-3 Garcia* (*denotes next server)
A fizzing forehand return by Garcia beats Raducanu, 0-15. Garcia then comes out on top after an entertaining rally as she flicks a backhand into the open court, 0-30. Garcia volley winner, 15-40. Two break points.
Raducanu forehand into the tramlines. Garcia breaks again. The Frenchwoman has had too much power today.
05:07 PM
Raducanu* 3-6, 2-2 Garcia (*denotes next server)
Groans from the crowd as a backhand by Raducanu flies wide and allows Garcia to hold easily.
05:03 PM
Raducanu 3-6, 2-1 Garcia* (*denotes next server)
Raducanu’s most comfortable service game of the match as she holds to love.
05:00 PM
Raducanu* 3-6, 1-1 Garcia (*denotes next server)
Centre Court roars as Raducanu earns a break point when she flicks a cross-court backhand for a winner, 30-40.
Saved by Garcia when Raducanu nets an attempted forehand pass. Garcia finds her first serve just in time to hold.
04:55 PM
Second Set: Raducanu 3-6, 1-0 Garcia* (*denotes next server)
Both players leave the court ahead of set two. Deep Garcia return but Raducanu gets down low and lifts a backhand winner into the open court.
Garcia then responds with a forehand winner, 30-30. Relief for Raducanu as Garcia’s backhand just misses the baseline, 40-30.
A series of great backhands by Garcia and Raducanu miscues one of her own, deuce.
Vital hold for Raducanu secured when she lobs Garcia and the Frenchwoman nets an overhead.
04:45 PM
Raducanu* 3-6 Garcia (*denotes next server)
Excellent first serve by Garcia and Raducanu fails to return it, 30-0. Garcia backhand long, 30-15.
Rally of the match as both players take turns to go on the attack but Garcia comes out on top to bring up two set points.
Great defence by Garcia and she flicks a backhand pass beyond Raducanu to win the set. Uphill task now for the British No 1.
04:41 PM
Raducanu 3-5 Garcia* (*denotes next server)
Garcia shanks a return and a fan in the crowd catches the ball while holding a beer in his other hand, very impressive.
Raducanu double fault, 30-30. She responds by finding her first serve which is unreturned, 40-30.
Garcia goes after the Raducanu second serve with a deep return then finishes with a volley winner, deuce.
Raducanu nets a backhand, set point Garcia. Saved by Raducanu with a better second serve down the T.
And she holds when Garcia’s forehand return flies wide. Big game coming up now.
04:34 PM
Raducanu* 2-5 Garcia (*denotes next server)
Back-to-back first serves by Garcia and Raducanu doesn’t get either return in, 30-0.
But Raducanu pulls it back to 30-30 when Garcia goes long with a forehand. Garcia gets Raducanu on the stretch and the US Open champ nets.
And Garcia holds when Raducanu’s return drifts long.
04:31 PM
Raducanu 2-4 Garcia* (*denotes next server)
Raducanu is finding her rhythm on serve and in the rallies now. It is also quite windy on Centre.
A slip by Raducanu as Garcia hits a forehand back behind her, 30-30. She gets up slowly but is able to continue.
Garcia volley winner, break point. Deep Garcia return and Raducanu can only net her reply. The Brit is broken again.
04:25 PM
Raducanu* 2-3 Garcia (*denotes next server)
Class from Garcia as she wrong foots Raducanu with an inside out forehand. And she holds with a big first serve down the T.
04:21 PM
Raducanu 2-2 Garcia* (*denotes next server)
Much better service game by Raducanu as she races to 40-0. Garcia drills a backhand return at the feet of Raducanu and draws the error.
Raducanu double fault, 40-30. Garcia backhand return wide. The spectator to my left stands and applauds.
04:16 PM
Raducanu* 1-2 Garcia (*denotes next server)
Garcia flicks a forehand into the tramlines, 15-30. Garcia backhand into the net, 30-40. Break point.
Raducanu fails to return Garcia’s wide serve, deuce. Garcia nets a high backhand volley, second break point.
Garcia nets a forehand and Raducanu immediately breaks back. Could be a theme of the match.
04:12 PM
Raducanu 0-2 Garcia* (*denotes next server)
Deep return catches out Raducanu, 15-30. Volley winner by Garcia, 15-40.
Garcia hits a backhand return that is called out, the umpire overrules and Raducanu challenges. However, Hawkeye confirms the ball was inside the baseline. Bad call by the line judge. Bad start by Raducanu.
04:08 PM
First Set: Emma Raducanu* 0-1 Caroline Garcia (*denotes next server)
Double fault by Garcia on the opening point. Then Raducanu drills a backhand winner down the line, 0-30.
Garcia attacks the net and Raducanu’s defensive backhand drifts wide. Raducanu return into the net, 30-30.
Garcia forehand winner into the corner, very nice, 40-30. Garcia backhand winner and she holds.
A statement of intent from the Frenchwoman.
04:04 PM
Nervous Emma?
A couple of shanks by Raducanu, hopefully she is saving her best shots for the match!
04:00 PM
Here we go!
Standing ovation for Raducanu as she walks onto court for her match with Garcia. Centre Court is filing up nicely.
03:52 PM
Emma Raducanu proves queen of the big occasion in taking Wimbledon Centre Court by storm
Oliver Brown was at Wimbledon to watch Emma Raducanu’s first-round progression earlier this week.
As Emma Raducanu strode through the double doors for her “central reveal”, as Wimbledon have loftily rechristened the players’ Centre Court entrances this year, she gave herself a few moments to grasp the grandeur of the setting.
Remarkably, for a young woman whose face adorns almost every billboard in south-west London, she had never graced tennis’s grandest citadel before.
That novelty, coupled with her side strain and halting adjustments to the grind of life on tour, had encouraged ideas that she might crumble.
Consider those theories emphatically debunked.
Read his full piece here.
03:35 PM
Raducanu says quick wins are key to Wimbledon hopes
Emma Raducanu is hoping to rediscover her grand slam efficiency at Wimbledon this year as he faces France’s Caroline Garcia this afternoon.
The 19-year-old famously did not drop a set through 10 matches at the US Open having also claimed three straight-sets wins at Wimbledon.
Since then, though, Raducanu has found herself dragged into a number of long matches, and her opening-round victory over Alison Van Uytvanck on Monday was her first two-set match at a slam since the US Open final.
With her history of injury niggles and recent recovery from a side strain, avoiding staying on court too long could be crucial to Raducanu’s hopes of a good run, and she will be looking for more of the same against Garcia.
“I think that it helps at slams that you get a day off in between, so I think that is pretty valuable,” said Raducanu.
“I felt good out there. There were some tough moments in the second set [against Van Uytvanck] physically, but I told myself, ‘Push through, if you win in two sets, then you don’t have to play three’. That’s the tactic.”
Returning to Wimbledon completes a first full year on tour for Raducanu, whose tennis education was elevated to warp speed by her remarkable early success.
Familiarity brings positives and negatives, with Raducanu saying: “I think that it helps just with experience. Every tournament or every match you play, you learn something. It helps it all be a positive tool for the future.
“In a way, when you haven’t played anyone before, it helps, too, because no one knows you, no one knows your game. That is something that I experienced in a positive way last summer because no one really knew who I was.
“Since, I think that people have definitely watched me and raised their level and raised their game and played some great tennis. I haven’t necessarily played badly in a lot of the matches.
“I think that coming back here is always going to be a special tournament for me, my home tournament. I’ve got incredible memories. I’m just looking forward to playing here again.”
Garcia, a former world number four now ranked 55th, is in good form having won a title in Germany at the weekend but needed a final-set tie-break to defeat British wild card Yuriko Miyazaki in round one.
“Caroline is a great opponent,” said Raducanu. “I played her earlier on in the year in Indian Wells and it was a tricky match. She plays pretty fast tennis. I’m ready for that.”
