"Let there be cake" - Emma Raducanu takes to social media to thank fans and peers for their wishes on her 19th birthday

Fans and fellow athletes recently flooded social media with wishes for 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who celebrated her 19th birthday on Saturday. The Brit has now put up a post of her own in response, thanking everyone for their kind words.

Raducanu stunned the world by becoming the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows in October. The Brit, who defeated fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez in the summit clash, was also the youngest winner in New York since Serena Williams' 1999 triumph.

Billie Jean King, founder of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), led the wishes for the youngster on Saturday. The 77-year-old shared a photograph from the US Open featuring her and Raducanu, congratulating the Brit on a great season and wishing her a "bright future".

"Happy birthday to the 2021 US Open Women’s Singles champion, Emma Raducanu," King wrote in the caption. "What a terrific year for her and a bright future ahead."

Several fans also posted birthday messages for Emma Raducanu, who later took to social media to thank everyone for the "nice wishes".

The Brit posted a photograph of herself holding a greeting card that read: "Let there be cake." She captioned the picture with the words "That’s a motto I can get behind", before adding that the plethora of wishes from fans meant a lot to her.

"That’s a motto I can get behind… thank you so much for all the nice wishes, they mean so much to me," Raducanu wrote.

Emma Raducanu looking to recover following her busy schedule and get back "motivated"

Raducanu during a practice session at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.

Since making a big splash by reaching the fourth round at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships back in July, Emma Raducanu has had a busy few months on the tour. By lifting the US Open trophy Raducanu took over the British No. 1 ranking over from Johanna Konta, before winning her first WTA tour-level match at the Transylvania Open.

The youngster last played at the 2021 Upper Austria Ladies Linz, where she lost in the second round to Wang Xinyu. Raducanu is now set to reach a career-high world ranking on No. 19 on Monday.

The Brit spoke about wanting to "switch off" for a few weeks following her loss in Linz. She also expressed hope of coming back "motivated" to train for her first full season on the tour in 2022.