British teenager Katie Swan sinks to heavy defeat at...
Katie Swan’s Wimbledon run was emphatically ended in the second round by 29th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu.
Nineteen-year-old Swan won a main-draw match at the All England Club for the first time on Monday.
But she found the task against Romanian Buzarnescu, who has shot up the rankings over the past year, a step too far.
Katie Swan found it tough going against Mihaela Buzarnescu
Swan did not manage to win a game until the start of the second set and her hopes of a comeback were ended when Buzarnescu wrapped up a 6-0 6-3 victory.
A year ago, Buzarnescu was ranked 213 and lost in Wimbledon qualifying at Roehampton having only just returned to the sport seriously.
The Romanian was a promising junior but injuries stalled her progress and the thought she might be achieving what she has aged 30 seemed a distant dream.
But Buzarnescu’s body finally cooperated and she has not looked back, soaring into the top 100 by the end of 2017 and continuing her progress this season.
She arrived at Wimbledon on the back of a run to the semi-finals in Birmingham, where she beat top-five player Elina Svitolina for the second time in a month.
It quickly became clear that Swan’s task was going to be an extremely tough one. The teenager had played brilliantly to beat Buzarnescu’s countrywoman Irina-Camelia Begu for her first grand slam victory on Monday but soon found herself being dragged to all parts of the court.
Swan did not play badly in the opening set and came close to winning several games but Buzarnescu, the highest-ranked opponent the British youngster has ever faced, gave very little away while pinning her opponent in the corners and sending dust from the lines flying on numerous occasions.
Under immense pressure in every rally, Swan began to over-hit and Buzarnescu clinched the set with a superb game, twice sending returns arrowing into Swan’s feet before a final pinpoint drop shot.
Swan, who was watched by doubles partner Katie Boulter, must have been fearing a whitewash but she earned huge cheers from the Court Three crowd by winning the opening game of the second set.
Despite her dominance, Buzarnescu was quick to berate herself for errors and was fuming when Swan fought back from 1-4 in the second set to make it 3-4.
Had the young Bristolian won another game to level, things might have been different, but a wayward backhand proved costly and Buzarnescu wrapped up victory in an hour and 14 minutes.