Emma Raducana- British tennis acclaims another hero.

 Emma Raducana- British tennis acclaims another hero.

Virginia Wade, the last British woman to win a major Grand Slam, smiled broadly and then cheered Britain's latest tennis superstar. The last Brit woman to win Wimbledon in 1977 could hardly believe what she was witnessing. She clenched her fists triumphantly and shared the elation of the whole of Flushing Meadows in New York. The moment had arrived and none of us had really anticipated this one. 

Emma Raducana, an 18-year old girl from Kent with Chinese and Romanian parents, had just won the US Open and the whole of the world was watching something completely unprecedented and unique. Raducana had become the first qualifier ever to win a major tennis grand slam. But the lady who wore a mauve cardigan 44 years ago at Wimbledon had now become the intrigued observer of another British sporting victory at the highest level. Virginia Wade was the model of composure in winning the ladies singles title way back when and her Dutch opponent Betty Stove could only look on with effusive admiration. 

Yesterday though at Flushing Meadows in the city they named twice, our Emma had become our quiet and unassuming heroine, fresh from celebrating her 'A' Levels and re-connecting with the real world. It couldn't have been easy because British tennis had assumed that Andy Murray was just a flash in the pan, twice Wimbledon winner but perhaps the best thing to happen to British sport for only a year or two. But then there was a teenager from Bromley who could only have imagined what it was like for the likes of Virginia Wade, Christine James and Ann Jones to win high profile matches at Wimbledon. Worry no more because our Emma has done it and now seemed as good a time as any to crack open the champers. 

Amid the Mercedes sponsored blue surface at the Arthur Ashe stadium in the heart of New York, Emma Raducana succeeded in achieving something that British women's tennis had never thought possible again. The Kentish girl can now walk out into her local supermarket an instantly identifiable face, the girl who won the US Open, the pinnacle of her career so far and a star spangled accolade that none of us could have imagined before the beginning of the tournament. 

And yet the trouble is Raducana will now be expected to be an odds on favourite to win Wimbledon next summer with consummate ease, a highly fancied contender to lift the trophy at SW19. In New York she came from nowhere, a meteorite that crashed down onto Earth without any warning. So on the very English green lawns of Wimbledon she will be treading the baselines and facing a noisy, sometimes hysterical audience on Centre Court burdened perhaps by the wholly unnecessary expectations that will now come with the territory.

The truth is that she will remain admirably level headed, personable, agreeable, friendly, down to earth and a genuinely modest character who must have thought that everything that had seemed impossible had now come to fruition. At 18 this teenage phenomenon does remind you of several of her predecessors who also captured the imagination of the tennis world. 

There was Tracy Austin, a pig tail haired 16 year old whose verve, youthful vitality and passionate enthusiasm broke down all the hitherto impenetrable barriers that might have got in her way. Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis and Chris Evert were all comparatively young when success became an all consuming reality. Sport does embrace its teenage prodigies and it loves to think it may well be responsible for the production of the very best it can offer. 

True, Radacuna has a long way to go before fulfilling her full potential but yesterday in New York, she showed a stirring maturity way beyond her years. Of course there were the very vocal grunts which accompanied her every return or indeed that big, booming serve. Then there were yet more boisterous shrieks when the vital points were won but her temperament is an equable one, easy going and unflustered when she lost a couple of break points. 

During the first set the girl with a Romanian name but who is very much British, sent a whole barrage of clubbing, thumping serves deep into her Canadian opponent Leylah Fernandez. There was both a delicate subtlety and merciless brutality about that smooth swing of her racket that was deeply enchanting. Then she swung through again and again, whipping her powerful forehand returns with enormous relish and an enjoyment of the moment. 

Then there were the stirring rallies that seemed to go on ad infinitum, the ball cracking from her racket like a musket shell. Raducana's blistering cross court shots, buccaneering charges and chips towards the net and superhuman stamina were a delight to behold. She scurried around the court like a woman chasing a thousand trains, flicking the racket lightly and deftly, placing her returns of serve with an uncanny accuracy and a timing that left you breathless. 

After a whirlwind first set when both Fernandez and Raducana were trading shots from every conceivable angle both girls upped the ante. Both started lofting attempted lobs at speed, moving each other easily from one side of the tramline to the other, volleying and half volleying the ball firmly into their respective midriffs. Raducana finally came through to win the first set 6-4 but not before Raducana had been hauled back when the British girl seemed to be running away with the contest quite impressively. 

The second set followed an almost identical pattern with the girl from Bromley dominating exchanges and flowing beautifully. There were frequent dainty dinks over the net, immaculately executed drop shots that almost fell like gentle rain over the net. Now increasingly more vigorous and hungrier than every before Raducana punched her shots with extraordinary placement, swotting the ball away down the line before Fernandez had had time to even blink.

Now completely in charge of the match, our Emma broke back from a difficult period and then swept away Fernandez as if she wasn't there. Thundering down the crucial match point towards Fernandez, the Canadian gallantly dug out her return which couldn't possibly find its range again. Game, set and match to Emma Raducana. Britain had found another sporting winner. 

Raducana slumped to her knees before the rest of the body followed suit. She fell deliriously onto her back, arms and hands pointing significantly into the sky. She had won the US tennis open, one of the most prestigious Grand Slam venues and nobody could begrudge her  this moment in time. How can the Kentish girl now not win Sports Personality of the Year? It would be an outrageous mistake and none of us would know why. The BBC trophy is hers for the mantelpiece. Well done Emma Raducana.