EMMA RADUCANU was blown off course at Wimbledon as her second-round Slam curse struck again.
The Brit struggled in the windy conditions on Centre Court as she was defeated 6-3 6-3 by the experienced and powerful ball-striker Caroline Garcia.
Not since that epic, history-making US Open win last September has the 19-year-old managed to string two or more wins together at a tennis major.
At the Australian Open in January and then the French Open in Paris last month, Raducanu won the opening match but then came unstuck in the next round.
And the same thing happened here at SW19 as Frenchwoman Garcia, who is nine years the senior, overpowered the 19-year-old in her UK homecoming.
It was evident from the opening games that there was a strong breeze swirling round this famous old arena.
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It proved challenging for both players to master in terms of finding their range and accuracy and little wonder there were several double faults in the stats folder.
Disappointingly for the British fans courtside, Raducanu found it tougher than the Garcia, particularly on her first serve, and was broken twice in the 39-minute first set.
Garcia tried to rush Raducanu whenever she faced a second serve, stepping forward from the baseline and approaching the net with frequency.
Wisely Raducanu took a toilet break after falling behind, a chance to regroup and reset after surrendering just the second completed set in six Wimbledon matches.
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Of course, a few points here or there early in the second set would get the crowd going and potentially swing the momentum in her favour.
But it never happened and game seven proved pivotal to Raducanu’s downfall.
A double fault gifted Garcia the chance to break and when the Kent ace missed her target, it seemed inevitable that the exit door was her destination.
The only consolation, as she now begins preparations for the US Open title defence, is that there were no signs of the physical discomfort and pain that had plagued her this year.
Inevitably there will be plenty more appearances in this grandest of stage but there were lots of empty seats throughout this straight-sets match.
What on earth were these people with tickets doing instead of watching Raducanu in action?
Party-pooper Garcia, who knocked out Brit Yuriko Miyazaki in the first round, will not care too much about that and her next challenge will be facing China’s Zhang Shuai in the third round.
