Fallon Sherrock has said she is overwhelmed by the “incredible” response to her historic victories at the PDC World Darts Championship, as Billie Jean King led a wave of congratulations from across the globe.

Sherrock became the first woman to defeat a male darts player in the sport’s best-known competition last week and repeated the feat by beating one of the world’s top-ranked players on Saturday.

The 25-year-old, who only took up the sport when she was 17 after ditching her career as a hairdresser, said she was struggling to grasp the wave of adulation coming her way.

“It hasn’t all sunk in yet,” she told BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday. “I haven’t had time to process the first game let alone this game. Then the fact that all these people are tweeting me, especially Billie Jean King. Oh my god, I never thought someone like that would be contacting me or congratulating me or anything like that.

“I mean, this is me. I’m just a normal person. This stuff doesn’t happen to me, but it’s incredible and I’m loving it.”

King, the former world No 1 tennis player, posted her congratulations on Twitter along with the hashtag “#Gamechanger”. Television presenters Gabby Logan, Jacqui Oatley and Piers Morgan were also among those paying tribute to the Milton Keynes-born star.

Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) Congratulations to @Fsherrock, who has just defeated the World No. 11 player to advance to the 3rd round of the #WorldDartsChampionship! Earlier this week, she became the 1st woman in history to win a match in the championship! #Gamechanger https://t.co/qsbrt6VxWT

Sherrock’s journey from professional hairdresser to darts history-maker is an incredible one. Viewed as a well-regarded player for a number of years, she has emerged as a stand-out player in 2019 and cemented her status at the PDC World Championships in the past week.

She has spoken about receiving merciless abuse on social media when she suffered a kidney condition following childbirth in 2014, which sometimes caused her face to swell. Sherrock has also called for women to be given more opportunity to play against men, saying there was no reason why the male-dominated sport should remain so: “Us women, we can beat these men. We just need more opportunities to prove ourselves.”

In her nerveless first-round victory over Ted Evetts, she became the first woman to beat a man in the competition, going on to stun Alexandra Palace a second time by defeating 11th-seed Mensur Suljovic to progress to the last 32 on Saturday.

Sherrock, whose walk-on music for her history-making win was Katy Perry, said she hoped to go on and win the tournament: “Why not? The possibilities are endless now.”