Wimbledon 2022: Emma Raducanu vs Caroline Garcia preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (10) Emma Raducanu vs Caroline Garcia
Date: June 29, 2022.
Tournament: Wimbledon 2022.
Round: Second round (Round of 64).
Venue: London, United Kingdom.
Category: Grand Slam.
Surface: Grass.
Prize money: £40,350,000.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & ESPN | Canada - TSN | UK - BBC & Eurosport | India - Star Sports.
Emma Raducanu vs Caroline Garcia preview
10th seed Emma Raducanu meets World No. 55 Caroline Garcia in a blockbuster second-round showdown at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
It was on these hallowed lawns of SW19 that Raducanu burst into the spotlight a year ago as a wildcard with her spectacular run to the Round of 16. The 19-year-old then took it several notches higher at the US Open with a fairytale campaign culminating in her maiden Grand Slam title.
The 10 wins without conceding a set made her the first player, man or woman, to win a Major as a qualifier in the Open Era.
However, Raducanu's post-US Open title run has been fraught with difficulty. Frequent injuries reared their ugly heads, curbing the youngster from building any kind of consistency.
The World No. 11 managed to spend just 30 minutes on the court in Nottingham in the run-up to Wimbledon due to a side strain. With doubts lingering over her fitness, the home hope came storming out of the blocks on Monday in a stunning debut on Centre Court.
Raducanu brushed aside Surbiton and Gaiba champion Alison Van Uytvanck 6-4, 6-4 to make a fabulous return to the Wimbledon second round.
A former World No. 4, Caroline Garcia's singles career has nosedived in the past few years. The start to the season, too, didn't prove highly successful for the Frenchwoman, with the quarterfinals in Sydney and the semifinals in Lyon being her only noteworthy results.
However, it was her scintillating run to her second Roland Garros women's doubles title with Kristina Mladenovic that brought Garcia back into the limelight.
The 28-year-old translated that confidence into a strong showing on grass in singles. With wins over Alize Cornet, Sabine Lisicki and Bianca Andreescu, Garcia surged to her eighth career title in Bad Homburg.
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The World No. 55 had a short turnaround between her title campaign in Germany and the Wimbledon first round, but managed to come out on top with a tight 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) victory against Yuriko Miyazaki at SW19 on Monday.
Emma Raducanu vs Caroline Garcia head-to-head
Raducanu has a 1-0 lead in her head-to-head with Garcia. The Brit edged the Frenchwoman 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 at Indian Wells earlier this year.
Emma Raducanu vs Caroline Garcia odds
(All odds are sourced from Oddschecker)
Emma Raducanu vs Caroline Garcia prediction
This is a tough one to predict. Garcia is the lower-ranked player in this encounter but has a strong grasscourt pedigree with three titles to show on her resume. The Frenchwoman has a strong serve, which she backs up with her free-flowing flat hitting off both wings.
Needless to say, her style of play makes her more dangerous on grass.
Garcia comes into this clash on the back of a title win in Bad Homburg last week. She was then involved in a 137-minute first-round battle with Miyazaki on Monday, where she barely came through in a third-set tie-break after having lost the opening set.
Although Garcia had better preparations on grass coming into Wimbledon than Raducanu, it remains to be seen how fast she manages to recover from her exertions at the age of 28.
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Raducanu, on the other hand, didn't have the best of build-ups to the grasscourt Major. With zero expectations, the young Brit took to Centre Court on Monday but played an excellent match, showing no signs of her recent physical woes. The home hope landed 71% of her first serves and produced 13 winners to 18 unforced errors.
Beating an in-form player like Alison Van Uytvanck would have given her tremendous confidence ahead of what could be a difficult meeting with Garcia. Raducanu will also be eager to draw inspiration from her last meeting with the Frenchwoman.
The fact that the 19-year-old is the fresher of the two should be an added advantage for the US Open champion. Should the match go the distance, there's every chance of fatigue creeping up on the World No. 55, tilting the balance in favor of the 10th seed.
Pick: Emma Raducanu to win in three sets.