Emma out but there is hope for Heather

Wednesday was a tough day for Britain’s biggest stars on the Wimbledon stage. 

US Open Champion Emma Raducanu was beaten by a powerful performance from France’s Caroline Garcia, while Andy Murray also bowed out of the men’s draw. 

There is, however, hope on the horizon today, with Heather Watson just one game away from victory and day four will also see Katie Boulter take on sixth seed Karolina Pliskova on Centre Court, while Harriet Dart faces the challenge of eighth seed Jessica Pegula. 

Rusty Raducanu overpowered by Garcia  

Teenager Raducanu made her dazzling debut in an inspired Wimbledon run last year and followed that with her historic win in the US open. 

This year, her first full season on tour, has been blighted by niggling injuries and she was grossly undercooked coming into this tournament at SW19.  

Having battled into the second round, there was hope that she could rediscover her 2021 brilliance but Garcia, a player with serious pedigree of her own, dominated from the start and fully deserved her 6-3 6-3 victory. 

An upbeat Raducanu spoke to the BBC after the match: "For me, everything is learning. Caroline is a great player. I struggled to find a way through her. But it's OK because coming into this I didn't really have many expectations of myself.” 

Watson waits for her big moment 

If Raducanu needs some advice on coping with the pain of setbacks, compatriot Heather Watson could certainly help, as the 30 year-old from Guernsey has endured some heartbreaking defeats in her own Wimbledon journey. 

There has never been any doubt about Watson’s talent and her emotional reaction to victory over Tamara Korpatsch in round one showed how much it means for a Brit to triumph at Wimbledon. 

Heather took that momentum into her Wednesday clash with Wang Qiang and snatched a tense first set 7-5. She then grabbed control in the second set and even served for the match, but Qiang broke to leave the score on 5-4 in Watson’s favour when bad light stopped play. 

One game from victory, good luck Heather.