Bromley Council have rejected calls for teen tennis sensation Emma Raducanu to be given the freedom of the borough.
Raducanu captured the nation's hearts as she won the US Open last month, becoming the first British female to win a Grand Slam tournament for 44 years.
The 18-year-old has lived in Bromley since the age of two, but Conservative councillors took the decision not to bestow the honour upon her as they didn't want to "embarrass" tennis' newest superstar.
Deputy Mayor Tony Owen old the London Evening Standard: "We have written to the family and received a reply from her representative who said the family don’t really like a fuss.
“Clearly she has a great career ahead of her and we are very proud of her success. But we didn’t want to embarrass Emma. And we don’t want to embarrass ourselves, which it would be if she refused [the award.]”
Raducanu made history at Flushing Meadows, becoming the first qualifier in history to win a Grand Slam event.
She did so in fine style, managing to not drop a single set on her way to glory.
Bromley's Labour group proposed giving Raducanu the freedom of the borough, the highest civic award a local authority can give.
Angela Wilkins, Bromley's Labour leader, claimed some councillors had said they could not support giving Raducanu the award as she is only ranked 24th in the world.
She added: "I imagine Emma refusing to accept is highly unlikely to happen – even if she were to decline, at least we would have shown our support and recognition of her.
“Andy Murray was awarded the Freedom of the Borough by Stirling in 2012 but didn’t actually receive it until 2014, presumably because of his busy diary. Our motion did not assume any award ceremony.
“There simply was no good reason not to agree the award and thereby show our support and recognition of Emma’s achievements.
“If Emma wishes to attend an event to celebrate the award, this could be arranged at her convenience.”
