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Emma Raducanu will have the chance to tick Serena Williams off her bucket list on Monday after the pair were drawn to face each other in the opening round of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. By the time Raducanu was born in 2002, Williams had already won four grand slams, 19 WTA Tour trophies and become world No 1. On Monday night, the British No 1 will be part of Williams' farewell tour after the 23-time major winner announced her intention to retire from the sport after the US Open, saying she was "evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me". Both players will be desperate for a win to boost their preparations ahead of the final grand slam of the year. Williams lost in straight sets to Belinda Bencic in the second round of the National Bank Open on Thursday while Raducanu went home a round earlier in Toronto, with her 7-6 (0), 6-2 defeat to defending champion Camila Giorgi following a quarter-final loss to Liudmila Samsonova at … [Read more...] about Emma Raducanu to face Serena Williams for first time in Cincinnati

Emma Raducanu's defeat to the world No 60 at the Citi Open rounded off another disappointing week for the US Open Champion. So how can the Briton get her season back on track before her grand slam title defence in New York? Problem 1: losing to opponents she should beat Raducanu’s defeat by world Liudmila Samsonova in Washington DC was just her latest against much lower-ranked players. Despite a bright start, the 19-year-old squandered a 5-2 lead in the first-set tie-break, losing 8-6 – and then things started to fall apart. Errant groundstrokes and inconsistent serving cost Raducanu the second set 6-1. Just 22 days out from the US Open, where she will defend her title, Britain’s No 1-ranked female tennis player – and on paper the 10th-best female in the world – has many issues to address. In New York last September, she beat five top-50 ranked opponents on her way to the title. Since then, though, her form has been patchy. She has chalked up impressive victories against … [Read more...] about The problems facing Emma Raducanu before US Open title defence

PASTY-FACED and with pinhole eyes, heroin addict Nigel Canning admits he's a “professional shoplifter”. The junkie from Burnley , Lancashire admits he needs £30 a day to feed a habit that has left him strung out for the best part of 35 years. Nigel admits: “I’ll pinch anything - TVs and whole racks of jackets - there’s no point just pinching one, you might as well take the whole lot. “I don’t feel guilty about thieving. I’m not robbing old ladies. I need £10-worth of heroin just to function. “At the moment I’m injecting but hope to get into rehab soon. I’ve had enough. All my friends are dead. I’m the last samurai.” Now - at the town’s Church on The Street Ministries - this lost soul is seeking solace. READ MORE BROKE BRITAIN DANGER ZONE Inside drug-ridden town where hard-up locals 'wrap up in curtains' to stay warm 'OUT OF HAND' Inside crumbling town where dealers turn derelict homes into ‘drug stores’ … [Read more...] about Inside UK’s cost-of-living crisis capital where sky-high bills leave teens ‘desperate to get jailed to stay warm’

THERE'S just days left for hundreds of thousands of retirees to get a cost of living payment worth up to £650. The cash is being dished out to help millions of people on low incomes struggling with rising bills . People on pension credit are among those on benefits getting the cash, and they have already been handed £326 into their bank account. You can't claim the cost of living payment directly, but you can still make a claim for pension credit that could make you eligible for the extra payment. Around 958,000 people on state pension and on a low income are missing out pension credit, which tops up weekly pension payments. A claim made before August 18 could be backdated up to three months, meaning if successful you could get the cost of living cash. Read more on cash help BILL HELP Full list of bill help you can get to prepare for ‘most expensive winter’ BILL HELP How to get free cash as nearly 9 … [Read more...] about Just days left for thousands on state pension to claim cost of living direct payment – what to do NOW

MILLIONS of people will get extra cash from today to help them get through the cost of living crisis. Millions on Universal Credit and other benefits are among the most hard-up who will get a £650 one-off payment. Everyone on means-tested benefits will get the cash as part of a package of plans announced by the government . That means those on Universal Credit and legacy benefits like tax credits will get the help. The lowest income pensioners will also get the help, on top of a separate £300 payment going out to all over state pension age. The payment is due to arrive in bank accounts from today, Thursday July 14, 2022. Read more on help with bills BILL HELL Martin Lewis reveals four ways to protect yourself before energy bills rocket TAP THIS Low income Brits can get £500 to pay water bill as regulator calls for more help However, the DWP has confirmed payments might take longer to process , … [Read more...] about Will I get £650 cost of living payment? Full list of those eligible for benefit TODAY

Naga Munchetty mortified as she laughs at brain cancer joke SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info When Laura Nuttall was six years old her parents set up a children's play park, Giddy Kippers, that has become one of the country's leading indoor play centres. On Boxing Day last year, the day after her 22nd birthday, Laura was among the family and helpers manning the centre for 200 low-income families who were all given a hot Christmas meal and a present. Graduate Laura has been ticking items of her bucket list after learning of her terminal cancer (Image: ) "It was amazing that we could open up and offer food to families who live around us who wouldn't have had a Christmas otherwise. It was the second time … [Read more...] about Terminal cancer student: ‘My bucket list is never-ending… because when it ends, I end’

Briton blown away in straight sets  by Italy's Giorgi US Open champion suffers second set collapse Raducanu to play in Cincinnati next ahead of Flushing Meadows title defence E mma Raducanu slumped to a straight sets defeat against reigning champion Camila Giorgi at the National Bank Open in Toronto, and admitted she needed to get better at coping with the pace of play at the top level. The first-round loss marked less than ideal preparations for world No 10 Raducanu, 19, as she looks towards her US Open title defence later this month. It was a disappointing early exit for Raducanu's debut in Toronto, the city she was born in before moving to the United Kingdom as a toddler. The one hour 49-minute 7-6(0), 6-2 loss followed a similar pattern to her quarterfinal defeat at last week's Citi Open to Liudmila Samsonova in Washington, DC, where she was hampered by blisters on her hands. There, after losing a tightly fought first-set tiebreak, Raducanu wilted against her … [Read more...] about Emma Raducanu suffers latest blow as she crashes out of Canadian Open

As he looked at me my dad’s face crumpled and his words tumbled out. ‘You are totally paralysed Lauren… you will never be able to breathe for yourself again,’ he choked. The doctors, who flanked my dad as he broke the news, could do no more. I stared at the ceiling and tears streamed down my face. Life as I knew it was over. Gone in the split second it had taken for me to step off the pavement into the path of an oncoming van. The impact catapulted my body 30 feet through the air and I landed in a heap of broken bones. The driver stayed with me, called emergency services and waited until they arrived. Later, I found out that the handful of people who saw what happened in the early hours of that August morning in 2008 presumed I’d been killed. I don’t remember anything about the accident; I was walking home from a gig with a friend then woke up in intensive care a week later with tubes snaking across my body attached to the bank of machines that were keeping … [Read more...] about I became paralysed at 20 after not looking before crossing the road

French energy giant EDF is charging UK households almost two-and-half times more than those across the Channel. EDF customers in Britain have their annual bills capped at £1,971 under a system overseen by the regulator Ofgem. But French customers on regulated tariffs face bills of around €950 (£803). And while Ofgem is expected to announce an eye-watering 80% surge in its price cap at the end of this month, French President Emmanuel Macron has told state-owned EDF it can only increase bills by 4%. The French government has forced EDF to sell electricity generated by its nuclear reactors to rival suppliers at well below market prices so it can keep low prices for consumers. And Mr Macron has unveiled plans to nationalise EDF so he can have more control over the its plans for domestic energy prices. British customers are charged more than double than the French ( Image: Getty Images/Vetta) The drastic measures contrast with the UK, where the lame duck Tory … [Read more...] about EDF bills in France less than half of what UK customers have to pay

Ukraine: Strike on Russian air bases is 'blow to morale' for Russia SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Vladimir Putin's decision to unleash his dogs of war in Ukraine led to the swift imposition of economic restrictions by Western nations. There has been much debate ever since about the effectiveness of these measures and whether they are producing the desired outcome. Critics of sanctions point to burgeoning oil and gas revenues for the Kremlin and the strength of the ruble as evidence that Western sanctions are backfiring. Related articles Putin nightmare: Ukraine clobbers Antonovsky Bridge in overnight raid Hapless Russian defence tries and fails to stop major Ukraine strike However recent … [Read more...] about Russia economy in MELTDOWN as vital industry and imports crippled –new data shows collapse