INTERNATIONAL: Britain’s new tennis queen is back home. Emma Raducanu returned home to London on Thursday and was reunited with her family after her historic US Open victory. Britain’s new tennis superstar is believed to have flown first class on a British Airways flight from JFK airport to Heathrow overnight before being given a police escort to her home in Bromley.

Neither the 18-year-old’s father Ian or her mother Renee were able to travel to New York to watch their daughter’s heroics on Saturday because of Covid travel restrictions, but they were reunited on Thursday morning, with the teenager saying: “It’s a great feeling to be back home. I’ve been away for seven weeks so it’s nice to be back.” Standing outside her home with her father, she added: “It’s nice to see them again. I haven’t thought about what’s next. I’m just enjoying it and relaxing and recovering.” When asked where the US Open trophy was, she revealed: “It’s getting shipped.”

She became the first British woman to win a major title for 44 years and is also the first qualifier in tennis history to lift a grand slam trophy.