The Queen led tributes to Emma Raducanu after the 18-year-old completed one of the great sporting fairytales to win the US Open.
Britain’s monarch was moved to write an open letter to Raducanu, saying her triumph was a “remarkable achievement at such a young age”.
A host of leading figures in sport, politics and entertainment also expressed astonishment. Playing in just her second grand slam tournament, Raducanu was sitting her A-levels little more than three months ago having not played a competitive match for more than a year but she has burst onto the big stage like no-one before her.
“I send my congratulations to you on your success in winning the United States Open Tennis Championships,” the Queen wrote in her note issued by Buckingham Palace.
“It is a remarkable achievement at such a young age, and is testament to your hard work and dedication.
“I have no doubt your outstanding performance, and that of your opponent Leylah Fernandez, will inspire the next generation of tennis players. I send my warmest good wishes to you and your many supporters.”
As Raducanu was handed her trophy and $2.5 million cheque, she said: “First of all, I really want to congratulate Leylah and her team on an incredible fortnight. She played some incredible tennis and beat some of the top players in the world so it was an incredibly difficult match but I thought the level was extremely high, and I hope that we play each other and many more tournaments and hopefully finals.
“For the three weeks I spent in New York, I would say that having a such a supportive team like I have over there – my coach, the LTA, my agent, everyone in that team and everyone back home who isn’t here but watching on TV – thank you so much for all your support over the years.
“And most of all I would say thank you to everyone here, New York. Thank you all for making me feel so at home from my first qualifying match, all the way to the final. I’ve loved playing in front of you and you’ve really spurred me on in some very difficult moments and I hope that me and Leylah put on a good performance today.”
Raducanu went on to hail the “legends” that had come before her, name-checking Billie Jean King, as well as Britons Virginia Wade and Tim Henman.
“The future of women’s tennis and just the depth of the game right now is so great,” she said. “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 footsteps of some of the greatest legends, for example, Billie Jean right here and everyone that’s at the top of the game right now.”
Raducanu added that “it means so much to have Virginia here and also Tim”. “To have such British legends and icons – for me to follow in their footsteps, it really helps and definitely gave me the belief that I could actually do it,” she added.
When asked how she held her composure, she added: “Leylah was always going to play great tennis, always going to fight – that’s just the competitor she is and that’s why she’s here in the final so I knew that I’d have to dig deep… I was just praying not for a double fault, but we got through it, and I think just staying in the moment and focusing on what I had to do and my process and the mindset just really helped in those tough times.”
Raducanu said she had “weird feelings” ahead of the match – but she “felt completely at home” when she emerged on court.
“Yesterday and this morning there were weird feelings I couldn’t quite put my finger on,” she later told Amazon Prime. “I didn’t know what it was – but I think that’s just normal. When I came out on court, I felt completely at home. I felt like business as usual. I was just focusing on one point at a time. I think the level was extremely high. Both of us are playing some unbelievable tennis and I had to fight really hard to just cling on to that first set and then keep my nose in front of the second.”
Fernandez, meanwhile, paid tribute to Raducanu’s “amazing” performance. “It’s going to be hard to recuperate but Emma played amazing so congratulations to Emma and her team. But I’m very proud of myself with the way I play these past two weeks, and especially having the crowd. The New York crowd – it’s definitely been special for me to be here in the finals and having you cheering me on.”
She added: “On this day, it was especially hard for New York, and everyone around the United States. I just want to say that I hope I can be as strong and as resilient as New York has been in the past 20 years.”