He’s at it again... Piers Morgan now claims Emma Raducanu won the US Open after ‘taking his advice’

We all knew that Piers Morgan wouldn’t let the opportunity of Emma Raducanu winning the US Open pass without using it as a way to promote himself.

Indeed, the broadcaster and journalist may have gone beyond even his own sometimes unbelievable standards. Now, it appears he’s actually taking some credit for the teenager’s incredible accomplishments.

After Raducanu won in a stunning straight-sets victory in New York on Saturday, lots of people rushed to mock Morgan, who had of course told her to “toughen up” after she pulled out of Wimbledon this summer.

Morgan had backed former tennis player John McEnroe for saying that Raducanu withdrew from the London tournament because she couldn’t handle the pressure. He wrote: “Ms Raducanu’s a talented player but couldn’t handle the pressure and quit when she was losing badly. Not ‘brave’, just a shame. If I were her, I’d tell my fans to stop abusing McEnroe, & seek his advice on how to toughen up & become a champion like he was.”

But, as people reminded him of his comments and suggested he should be embarrassed, Morgan wasn’t accepting any of the criticism and instead turned the whole situation around to claim that she won after he gave her advice...

And he didn’t stop there.

Replying to another tweet that roasted him for previously questioning Raducanu’s mental strength, Morgan said fans should be thanking him. “I said she needed to toughen up after she quit. She toughened up. The words you’re seeking are ‘Thanks Piers’,” he wrote.

Then, there was more:

His tweet was presumably referencing those who had supported, rather than berated, the tennis star for pulling out of Wimbledon.

And, as more criticism came in, Morgan continued to back himself:

Unsurprisingly, many people were not impressed with his response.

One wrote: “Stop embarrassing yourself, Piers. You don’t actually think she listened to you directly, do you?”

Others had similar responses:

It’s not the first time Morgan has tried to positively link himself to Raducanu’s success.

When the 18-year-old became the first British woman to reach a US Open semi-final since 1983 after her quarter-final win against Olympic gold medallist and Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic, Morgan used the opportunity to claim that Raducanu “totally agreed” with his and McEnroe’s assessment of why she pulled out of Wimbledon, adding: “Brilliant to see her storm back better & mentally stronger - that’s what champions do.”

And then he went on to compare himself to the star, completely baffling a lot of people.

It started when Morgan hit out at “wokies” for “going crazy” because the tennis star was “now winning not quitting.” One person replied with the infamous clip of Morgan storming off the GMB studio set and wrote: “Speaking of quitters...” Although Morgan returned back to the set, he eventually quit the show.

Incredibly, Morgan responded to the tweet by comparing himself to the semi-finalist.

Whether he truly believes he helped Raducanu soar to victory, or whether he’s just doing it to wind people up, is unclear. But what is abundantly obvious is how much talent Raducanu has – and that Morgan (and everyone else) will still be talking about her for some time to come.