Emma Raducanu's Wimbledon return proved to be an anti-climax as the US Open champion exited in the second round with a 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.
Game, set and match - @CaroGarcia!
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 29, 2022
The Frenchwoman proves too strong for Emma Raducanu, winning 6-3, 6-3 #Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/2fIL3GjSFi
Second seed Anett Kontaveit was thumped 6-4 6-0 by big-serving Jule Niemeier, who is making a mark on her first appearance at the tournament.
The 26-year-old Kontaveit could not counter the German's huge groundstrokes and looked progressively more downhearted as she failed to find her range.
Estonian Kontaveit has talked about suffering fatigue this year following a Covid-19 infection and has not played a match since the French Open last month, where she was beaten in the first round.
She looked out of sorts against Niemeier, spraying groundstrokes long and wide and making 24 unforced errors in a match lasting 58 minutes.
One of the wins of The Championships ✅
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 29, 2022
Jule Niemeier stuns No.2 seed Anett Kontaveit 6-4, 6-0 in only the second Grand Slam main draw appearance of her career#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/ss18aINMdr
Belgium's Greet Minnen registered her first career win over a top-10 opponent to beat former champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-4 6-0.
Minnen came into her first meeting with Muguruza, who won the French Open in 2016 and Wimbledon the following year, having lost all three of her matches against players ranked in the top 10.
The world number 88 took the opening set before play was halted due to rain and needed only 18 minutes to sweep through the second against the error-prone Spaniard.
Former world number one Muguruza committed 33 unforced errors, winning just seven points in the second set.
