INTERNATIONAL: History was made at the US Open this weekend. For the first time in tennis history, a qualifier has won a grand slam tournament. Emma Raducanu has also become the first British woman to lift a major tennis trophy since Virginia Wade way back in 1977.

Friends and fans of Britain's Emma Raducanu went bonkers in their local pub in her hometown of Beckenham, as the final played itself out across two sets. It’s been 44 years that Britain has been waiting for scenes like this. Raducanu’s former coach, Harry Bushnell, says he knew she’d do it in two sets:

"I said earlier on if she was going to win, she's going to win straight sets. I mean, it's just a joke of an achievement for her. I think it's important she got it done in that second set. Fair play to her opponent, she was equally as unbelievable, but yeah, it's nuts."

Britain as a whole went pretty nuts, with everyone from Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and even former tennis great Martina Navratilova taking to Twitter to congratulate the country’s new tennis queen. 150th-ranked Raducanu wasn’t exactly expected to do all that well, but then again, neither was her 73rd ranked opponent. The first Grand Slam final ever to be contested by two unseeded players.

EAC News spoke to former UK tennis pro, Annabel Croft, who is now a presenter for Eurosport. She says the match was incredible to watch and Raducanu’s run at the US Open has been a real fairytale. All the more remarkable was that Raducanu's march to the title required 10 matches, including three wins in the qualifying stage, and she did it all without dropping a single set.

^{PHOTO: FANS AND FRIENDS OF BRITISH TENNIS PLAYER, EMMA RADUCANU, CELEBRATING HER U.S. OPEN VICTORY AT HER HOME CLUB, THE PARKLANGLEY CLUB, IN BECKENHAM, SOUTHEAST LONDON / SOUNDBITES FROM RADUCANU'S FORMER COACH, HARRY BUSHNELL / SOUNDBITE FROM FAN}