‘We are taking her HOME’: Emma Raducanu shares snap hugging US Open trophy in her first tweet since victory… as neighbours back in UK tell of joy at her triumph
- British champ Emma Raducanu tweets for first time since her US Open win at Flushing Meadows, New York
- Teenage tennis superstar sent a short but sweet tweet: ‘We are taking her HOME’ alongside trophy pictures
- The 18-year-old, from Kent, became Britain’s first female Grand Slam champion in more than four decades after beating Canadian rival Lelyah Fernandez in straight sets in a fairytale victory in America
- Excitable neighbours in her family’s quiet cul-de-sac in Bromley, London had already prepared for her victory
Emma Raducanu has tweeted for the first time since becoming the Britain’s only woman to win a Grand Slam title in more than four decades.
The delighted teenage tennis superstar sent a short but sweet message to her 450,000 Twitter followers in the wake of her fairytale victory at the US Open in New York.
Alongside pictures of her clutching her new trophy and emojis, the 18-year-old wrote: ‘We are taking her HOMEEE.’
Her viral tweet was liked more than 170,000 times and retweeted 17,000 times by her ever-growing fanbase.
It comes as the 18-year-old from Kent, who became Britain’s first female Grand Slam champion in 44 years after beating Canadian rival Lelyah Fernandez in straight sets at Flushing Meadows, said she is ‘ready’ to deal with ‘anything that comes my way’.
Excited neighbours had already prepared for their Grand Slam champion girl, having put up ‘Good Luck’ banners and balloons in front of teenage tennis sensation Emma Raducanu’s family home before her US Open final victory last night.
Residents said they had not seen her parents ‘for days’ at their three bedroom semi-detached home in a quiet cul-de-sac in Bromley, south east London – but that didn’t stop them getting into the party mood after Raducanu’s remarkable victory.
Emma Raducanu poses outside Arthur Ashe Stadium with the championship trophy after she defeated Leylah Fernandez in the women’s singles final of the US Open tennis championships
The home of tennis player Emma Raducanu in south London where the friends and locals have put banners outside their homes to celebrate her win at the US open. Above: A woman leaves a small bouquet of flowers on the doorstep
Meanwhile at the Bromley Tennis Centre in nearby Farnborough (above) youngsters arrived early on Sunday morning as they hoped to emulate the teenage star who trained on these very courts
More than nine million people tuned in to watch Channel 4’s coverage of Emma Raducanu’s fairytale victory in New York – but none were more pleased for her than local residents who have watched her grow up in her family home in Bromley.
Speaking on her victory, delighted neighbour Jean Moore, 72, said: ‘It’s absolutely fantastic. She’s done so well and she’s so determined. It’s amazing really.
‘We watched the match last night and we’re so very pleased for her. They are a lovely family.’
Others praised the steadying influence of her mother Renee, who was described as a ‘calm’, ‘principled’ and ‘positive person’.
After her victory, Raducanu planted a kiss on the silver trophy and beamed at the adoring 24,000 fans inside the Arthur Ashe.
The Briton said: ‘Thank you to everyone here in New York for making me feel so at home from my first qualifying match all the way through to the finals. Leylah’s always going to play great tennis and always going to fight… I knew I had to dig deep.
‘I think it shows that the future of women’s tennis – and just the depth of the game right now – is so great. I think every single player in the women’s draw definitely has a shot of winning at any tournament.
‘I hope that the next generation can follow in the steps of some of the greatest legends’, she added, naming Billie Jean King, who presented her with the trophy.
Meanwhile at the Bromley Tennis Centre in nearby Farnborough, youngsters packed the courts on Sunday morning as they hoped to emulate the teenage tennis star.
Raducanu’s parents Ian and Renee Raducanu have been hugely influential in their daughter’s remarkable journey.
Raducanu said it ‘meant everything’ to get a letter from the Queen congratulating the teenager on her astonishing US Open championship victory on Saturday and revealed she is planning on framing the note
Emma Raducanu fell to the ground and put her hands over her face after beating the Canadian 6-4, 6-3, in front of 24,000 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
Ian and Renee Raducanu have been hugely influential in their daughter’s remarkable journey and helped Emma storm to stardom after playing tennis with her in their quiet cul-de-sac in Bromley, Kent
Romanian Ian and Renee, who is Chinese, were living in Toronto, Canada, when only child Emma was born, and the family moved to the UK when she was two.
It comes as a former colleague of Renee has said he regrets not taking up the opportunity to play her at tennis – despite admitting she would have still beaten him when she was aged 10.
Broker Julian Guthrie, 52, worked with the teenage sensation’s mum Renee at Central London based foreign exchange firm Currency Solutions, where she was head of accounts.
She offered him a game against child prodigy Emma but he rejected the offer around eight years ago in fear she would find it too easy to win set and match.
Keen tennis fan Mr Guthrie said: ‘I used to make jokes actually because I’m really into my tennis. Emma was around 10 or 11 at the time and I would say ‘well there’s no way I’d lose to a 10-year-old girl’.
‘But Renee would say ‘I tell you what, you would. Why don’t you come and play’.
‘Luckily for my ego this didn’t actually come off. I nearly did play but thank God I didn’t.
‘She would have easily beaten me even at that age. Now I wish I’d just gone down to Bromley Academy and played her.
‘I just took it as a bit of a joke. I wouldn’t play her now though – she would wipe the floor with me.’
Mr Guthrie met Emma once when Renee gave him a lift back from a function.
‘She was adorable,’ he said.
‘What you see now on the TV is exactly as she’s always been.
‘She’s fiercely intelligent and one of those annoying people who whatever she does, she’ll be brilliant at it straight away.’
Emma Raducanu is handed the US Open trophy by American former No. 1 Billie Jean King at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York
Raducanu looks overjoyed as she holds her first major trophy aloft. Speaking afterwards, Raducanu appeared totally stunned, saying: ‘I’m still just so shocked, still in the moment. I can’t believe I came through that last service game. It honestly means absolutely everything to hold this trophy. I just don’t want to let go’
Emma Raducanu holds her head in her hands after beating Leyla Fernandez in the Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of 24,000. Life will never be the same again for the teenager as she claims a £1.8 million cheque – more than her entire career winnings to date – as well as moving up in the rankings from 150 to 23
The colleagues became very good friends and would always talk about Emma over their four years working together. But they sadly fell out of touch when Mr Guthrie left the company in 2014.
Mr Guthrie said of Renee’s influence on her daughter: ‘Renee is very correct, very sure of herself, principled and just a lovely, positive person.
‘She is fantastic because you always knew Emma was never pushed.
‘To me, Renee’s principle quality is her calmness and you can see Emma has inherited that.
‘I never heard Renee lose her temper or raise her voice and you can see that in her daughter on the court. She’s unflappable and calmness personified in pressure situations.
‘Renee never liked negativity or anyone who rocked the boat. If you listen to Emma in interviews, she says her parents would quickly snap her out of any hissy fits thrown on the court as a child.
‘I love the way Emma has turned out and it’s a reflection on her mother.’
On Emma’s rapid rise to the top of the sport, Mr Guthrie added: ‘Emma is one in a million. I’ve been watching her in the US Open after Wimbledon and she is genuinely the best I’ve ever seen.
‘Not just technically or her movement but her mind and focus. She’s multidimensional.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it and I don’t believe I ever will again in my lifetime. A once in a generation player.
‘Once in a millennium as far as I’m concerned. And it’ll be interesting to see how far she goes.’
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