In interviews after her first-round win, Garcia often used the word ‘aggressive’ when talking about her game plan against Raducanu and she proved true to her word.
Garcia’s depth and pace of ball caused issues for Raducanu, whose time was further reduced by her opponent’s willingness to come forward to the net.
The British teenager was unable to adapt her game to cope and, after the pair exchanged breaks early on, Garcia took her serve again for a 4-2 lead in the opening set.
After a crescendo of encouragement from the home fans, Raducanu saved a set point at 5-2 but then could do little to stop Garcia serving out to clinch the opening set in 39 minutes.
A crosscourt backhand winner from Raducanu set up a first break point of the second set, leading to a feisty shout of ‘Come on!’ from the Briton.
But her hopes of securing an early break were dashed when Garcia found her spots with her serve to clinch the hold.
Raducanu lost serve for 3-2 and immediately broke back, but a double fault at deuce 3-3 proved costly.
That felt like the moment when the belief drained from both player and fans.
Garcia took the lead when Raducanu dragged wide a backhand and, after fighting off resistance to hold, broke again with a crosscourt backhand winner from behind the baseline to seal victory.
She looked up to the heavens and screamed her delight, with the sound of respectful, if unenthusiastic, applause ringing in her ears.
“I prepared for this match really well. Emma is a huge player and in her home tournament,” said Garcia, who faces China’s 33rd seed Zhang Shuai next.
“I won a title in Germany but you have to start all over again.
“That is what is nice about tennis – we all start from zero and we have to go for it.”
