A BOURNEMOUTH tennis club where Emma Raducanu previously competed has congratulated the teenager on her US Open win.

West Hants Tennis Club said the tennis champion had competed in junior tournaments at the club in previous years.

Emma competed in the Bournemouth Open at the age of eight. 

In a statement on social media, the club said: “Congratulations from us all Emma Raducanu on this INCREDIBLE achievement. We've watched you compete in junior tournaments at the club in recent years so there's extra excitement amongst our crowd.”

 

Raducanu’s 6-4 6-3 victory over fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez in the final made her the first British woman to win a slam singles title since Bournemouth-born Virginia Wade, 44 years ago.

Raducanu is yet to win a match on the WTA Tour and little over three months ago she was a full-time schoolgirl completing her A-levels, with competitive tennis having taken a back seat for more than a year.

But the teenager’s extraordinary talent showed in her run to the fourth round of Wimbledon this summer, that a big future lay ahead.

Raducanu said: “I’ve always dreamed of winning a grand slam. You say, ‘I want to win a grand slam’, but to have the belief I did, and actually executing, winning a grand slam, I can’t believe it.

The teenager has been inundated with congratulatory messages, including from the Queen, but she said: “I still haven’t checked my phone.

“I have absolutely no idea what’s going on outside of the little world that we’re in here. We’ve just been in the quiet room, just enjoying the moment, taking it all in. I think today we just really need to shut out from everything, just enjoy it as a team, because it was a team effort.

Raducanu’s team includes her parents, Ian and Renee, who were forced to watch their daughter on TV because of the continuing difficulties of international travel.

One of Raducanu’s proudest achievements was impressing her dad, who has been the driving force behind the scenes.