Teenager wins major, ignores silly old twit

British teenager Emma Raducanu was publicly humiliated by Piers Morgan at Wimbledon. He called her a quitter and choker. Now she’s the US Open champion.

Emma Raducanu responded to Piers Morgan’s bullying in the best way possible

Emma Raducanu clutched at her stomach. She gasped for breath. She was white as a ghost and trembling. It was distressing to watch. A panic attack on live TV.

This polite and quietly spoken teenager had gone from complete anonymity to an overblown celebrity status in England.

Standing on Wimbledon’s Centre Court for the first time, it was clearly too much for her.

Only the most heartless, immature and naive sort of boofhead would lay the boot into a vulnerable young woman at a moment like that. The almost comically clueless Piers Morgan would prove masterfully up the task.

Raducanu was taken to the locker room. She was in no fit state to return. Word was passed to the umpire, who announced: “Miss Raducanu is not able to continue the match.”

Withdrawals normally provoke jeers and dissent. Not this time. The 18-year-old was so obviously having some sort of panic or anxiety attack that there was nothing but sympathy – apart from this one persistently patronising celebrity windbag. His childish desperation for attention overrode any possible inclination towards human kindness.

I have no idea why people take Morgan seriously. He seems silly enough for an episode of Are You Being Served? Part-Captain Peacock, part-Mrs Slocom.

But he’s gained quite the Twitter audience and it was to these eight million followers that he ripped into Raducanu.

The tough guy called her a choker and a quitter. At best, it was laughable. At worst, a 56-year-old social-media bully was kicking an 18-year-old when she was down.

Everyone knew how shy Raducanu was. Everyone knew of her camp’s fears about the suddenness of her fame. Morgan has zero knowledge of sport if he thought her departure had anything to do with choking.

He whined at the time: “Ms Raducanu’s a talented player but couldn’t handle the pressure & quit when she was losing badly. Not ‘brave’, just a shame. If I were her, I’d tell my fans to stop abusing (John) McEnroe, & seek his advice on how to toughen up & become a champion like he was.”

McEnroe had been critical of Raducanu in television commentary. He backtracked when he realised the gravity of her distress. As for Morgan, what a thing for a gruff old bloke to go after a young woman like that.

It was cringe-worthy. A bit creepy. Completely uninformed and totally out of order. If I was Raducanu’s father, I might have been tempted to involve myself, and not from the safety of my keyboard. How dare the silly old twit use her like that. He used her name to promote his own.

The upside for Raducanu at Wimbledon? A promising career was born. The downside? She had to start dealing with the village idiots. Morgan got what he wanted. Attention. Now she’s earned something better. A major.

Raducanu never responded to Morgan, never said a word about him after Wimbledon. She just rocked up at the US Open two months later, and won it.

Half-Romanian, half-Chinese, born in Canada, raised in the UK, she completed one of the great sporting upsets by beating 19-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 in their teenage dream of a final in New York.

She’s the first qualifier to win a major in the Open era. The world No.150 was the unlikeliest player to emerge victorious from the main draw at Flushing Meadows because just days before the tournament began, she wasn’t even in it.

“I think it shows 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 any tournament.”

Raducanu was too good for Fernandez in too many departments. In the final game, she skidded across the concrete court on her knee, needing a five-minute time-out to take care of the blood.

“I fell, somehow, and I thought that would throw myself off because I had to serve,” said Raducanu, who was playing in just her second major. “I was just praying not for a double fault. Just staying in the moment really helped. I knew I would have to dig deep.

“Leylah’s always going to play great tennis and she’s always going to fight. The level was extremely high and I hope we play each other in many more tournaments and hopefully finals.”

Morgan was trying to take credit for toughening her up.

He embarrassed her in July. She returned the favour on Sunday. I ditched Twitter a while ago. I couldn’t get away from daft buggers like him unless I gave the old heave-ho to Twitter itself. It didn’t matter that I didn’t follow him. Someone else would retweet him, or like something he said, and I’d be stuck with him.

Girl wins major. Ignores silly old twit. He was at it again on Sunday. Before the final, he reminded Raducanu of her Wimbledon “choke”. Afterwards, he congratulated her in condescending tones for no longer being a quitter and whiner. She ignored him again. Good on her.

She’s fought the good fight since Wimbledon, handling the hype, overcoming the self-doubt and embarrassment after what happened in July, taking no notice of the insensitive, self-serving old fool who still hasn’t stopped sending her messages on Twitter.

Of more social-media substance was the message to Raducanu from the Queen, who wrote: “I send my congratulations to you on your success in winning the United States Open Tennis Championships. It is a remarkable achievement at such a young age, and is testament to your hard work and dedication.”

Even better came from the Spice Girls. Morgan has social media power but Raducanu has something stronger. “Wow! Amazing tennis from @leylahfernandez and @EmmaRaducanu,” wrote Britain’s all-female band. “That’s Girl Power right there!!”