Tiger Tim was Emma Raducanu's REAL 'inspiration': How former British no1 was secret mentor to tennis superstar, 18, during US Open - and was court-side for every match while Covid rules kept her parents in UK

• Tim Henman helped mentor British star Emma Raducanu who won US Open final in New York on Saturday
• Raducanu's parents Ian and Renee could not be in New York because of strict Covid-19 travel rules in US
• She's been training in recent weeks under new coach Andrew Richardson, a contemporary of Henman 
• Mr Richardson served as best man at Henman's wedding to Lucy Heald in 1999 in Odiham, Hampshire

As a former British number one, he was employed by Amazon Prime to provide courtside analysis on TV and watched Emma Raducanu throughout the US Open.

But it turns out that Tim Henman was also a secret mentor to the 18-year-old star during the tournament which saw her become the first British woman to win a grand slam singles title since 1977 on Saturday.

His support was a huge boost to Raducanu whose parents Ian and Renee could not be in New York because of strict Covid-19 rules in the US which meant they would have needed a special exemption visa to travel. Her mother and father have not yet been seen since her victory.

In recent weeks Raducanu has been training under new coach Andrew Richardson, who was a contemporary of Henman and even served as best man at his wedding to Lucy Heald in 1999 in Odiham, Hampshire.

The appointment came after she decided to part with her previous coach of three years Nigel Sears, who is the father of Sir Andy Murray's wife Kim, with whom the three-time Grand Slam winner has four children.

Henman, 47, struggled to control his emotions during Saturday's match and he was the first person Raducanu looked at after winning the game - and he was seen pointing towards her before smiling at her coaching team.

He was audibly hoarse while giving his post-match analysis having cheered throughout for Raducanu, who became the first qualifier to reach a slam final and the first woman ever to win a title in as few as two tournaments.

Henman backed Raducanu to add more grand slam titles to her maiden victory, telling Amazon Prime: 'What she has achieved, second grand slam and the way she has gone about it, she will win more of these, she is that good.

'This is not some flash in the pan or fairy tale. She is playing top five tennis. Her world will be turned upside down but she has good people around her. It will be a hell of a ride if she can stay injury free.'

Henman - known as 'Tiger Tim' - said Raducanu had 'made it look ridiculously easy but it's been a bit closer than the scoreline has suggested' and praised her for her 'resilience', adding: 'It's an absolute joke, my legs are like jelly.'

Also cheering on Raducanu at Arthur Ashe Stadium was Virginia Wade, the last British woman to win both the US Open and a grand slam singles title 44 years ago – and she applauded Raducanu with a huge smile. 

Raducanu said: 'It means so much to have Virginia here and also Tim. Just to have such British legends and icons for me to follow in their footsteps, it definitely helps and gave me the belief that I could actually do it.'

Speaking after her semi-final victory, Raducanu had also praised Henman, saying: 'Tim is honestly such a big inspiration. He has been helping me to treat one point at a time. You can't get ahead of yourself.'

The Amazon broadcast team were also heavily invested in Raducanu, having already part-funded her amazing journey by contributing £60,000 towards her development through the Prime Video Future Talent Award in 2019.

Speaking before her win, Henman - who made the semi-finals of the US Open in 2004 - had told Sportsmail: 'It is phenomenal the way she has gone about it with such limited experience and at such a high level.

'She has been outstanding. The key thing is just concentrating on her game plan. She has played on [this court] a couple of times so she knows the surroundings.

'It is hard at any age to shut out all the noise around her whether it be the media or friends getting in contact. She has to concentrate on what she is doing.' 

Amazon Prime screened the game live, but in a last-minute deal it agreed to share the broadcast with Channel 4, so UK viewers could also watch it on free-to-air TV.  

Raducanu beat Leylah Fernandez to emerge victorious in the US Open, winning all 20 sets she played in qualifying and the main draw.

She was sitting her A-Levels little more than three months ago having not played a competitive match for more than a year but she has burst onto the big stage like no-one before her.

Fernandez is only two months older having celebrated her 19th birthday last week but the Canadian, who had claimed a host of big scalps, including defending champion Naomi Osaka, had no answer to the brilliance of Raducanu, who claimed a 6-4 6-3 victory in an hour and 51 minutes.