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Aston Villa pushing for Pau Torres deal.

With Wimbledon starting next week, Stan Wawrinka is excited about returning to London’s iconic championships. “It’s really a different tournament with the history, also the fact that we play on grass courts. The courts are amazing, the atmosphere is great,” he says on a video call from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Today, the Swiss player is taking a break from his gruelling training schedule to visit SW19 as part of his long-running partnership with Evian. “It’s always special for us players to go practise or to play matches on small courts as well, because you have so many fans coming and the atmosphere is always going to be special,” he continues, saying his most memorable Wimbledon match was against a certain Swiss opponent. “I played one quarter final against Roger [Federer] on Centre Court – it’s always special to play Roger, to play him here was something really nice.” Ahead of the famous championships, the 38-year-old has been training in Monaco, before heading back to London this week. So, how does the three-time Grand Slam winner balance the physical and psychological aspects of preparing for high-profile events? “It’s all a big puzzle,” says Wawrinka, who was born near Lausanne to a German father and Swiss mother. “As a tennis player, you have the fitness side and you have the mental part – you have everything that you need to do to be ready.” Plus, there’s the challenge of having to deal with defeats: “Tennis is a tough sport in the way that you end up almost every week losing. You need to accept [that you will] lose and try to learn and take something positive from it.” How does the former world number three cope with not winning? “I try to refocus on myself, try to also think about everything I’ve been doing in practice… you can lose against a better player. If you know you’re doing the right things, then you can only be positive about it.” Stan the Man (as he’s known to fans) isn’t fazed by comparisons to Federer – whom he’s beaten on just three of the 26 times they’ve competed on court. “I always look for the positive of the situation and I’ve been lucky enough that when I arrived [on the circuit] I was a little bit younger than him – he was already at the top,” says Wawrinka, who is three years younger than his record-breaking countryman. “For me, it was a chance to have Roger in the same country… I had the chance to practise with him and he became a friend.” The pair were victorious at the Davis Cup in 2014 and at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, taking gold in the men’s doubles. “The Olympics are something that any athlete in any sport dreams about, to play individually, but [playing] doubles and to feel like a team it was super special,” Wawrinka recalls. How does training for doubles matches compare to singles? “It’s more the mental part. You need to know your partner, talk with him a lot about the tactics, but more about what’s going to happen. “Communication is really important on the court, but also off the court. For us, it was quite easy to play together because we are such close friends.” Seen as a late bloomer in terms of tennis, Wawrinka admits it was a struggle waiting to achieve his inaugural Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2014. “For me, the most challenging part was to find the confidence in myself and in my game. I only won my first Grand Slam at 29 years old, it took me a while to really find that confidence.” Suffering setbacks throughout his career due to knee, elbow and foot injuries, Wawrinka’s ranking has yo-yoed in the past few years, but he returned to the world top 100 in February. “It was tough to be back at 37 years old after more than a year out for another two surgeries,” he says. “It was not easy, but for me, it’s about the passion. I love what I’m doing, I enjoy the process… it was, of course, so special to be back again in the top 100.” Off the court, he unwinds by spending time with daughter Alexia, 13, whom he shares with ex-wife Ilham Vuilloud, a Swiss TV presenter: “I’m traveling a lot so I don’t have that much time to be with her, so I’m trying to enjoy that.” Having grown up on his parents’ biodynamic farm, the tennis champ has inherited the green-fingered gene, growing fruit and veg in his garden back home in Switzerland. “I have tomatoes, courgettes, I have many fruits. I think it’s just different when you have your own garden than when you go buy it at the shop directly.” Reducing his impact on the environment is also a priority for the Evian global brand ambassador, which is why he’s pleased the water brand is introducing refillable bottles for players at Wimbledon for the first time this year. “It’s important for us, the players, [because] we’re traveling a lot – this new bottle is going to be great,” Wawrinka says. Two years away from 40 and with 16 career titles and 550 career wins under his belt, he’s not planning on hanging up his racket any time soon. “I’m still hoping to play a few more years on tour. It’s, of course, not easy, but I’m passionate about it. I want to enjoy it as much as I can,” Wawrinka says. “The time I will stop there will be no way back, so I need to really push and try to be as good as I can.” Evian, official water of the Championships, together with Wimbledon have launched a new refillable solution to hydrate players on court during this year’s tournament. Discover more at www.evian.com. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Hacks for saving money on school uniforms King Charles and Queen Camilla surprise spa guests in bathrobes at eco-village Nearly 1.5m 18 and under referred for mental health support in 2022 – charity

Senior officials suggest the Russian leader cannot survive a catastrophic loss of authority.

European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said that while another interest-rate increase next month is all

Unlike many newer movies, 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' will stay true to previous films in the franchise and avoid a post-credit scene

Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a £45m fee with Leicester City for the transfer of James Maddison. Newcastle United had also shown an interest but the England midfielder preferred a move to Spurs.

Credit Suisse Group AG’s asset management arm saw clients continue to pull money from its investment funds this

Time-restricted eating, commonly known as intermittent fasting, may produce similar weight loss results for adults with obesity compared to traditional calorie counting, according to a new study. The small clinical trial, whose results were published on Tuesday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, found that participants who engaged in 8-hour time restricted eating had improved insulin sensitivity compared to those in the control group who ate their calories any time over 10 or more hours a day. Over a billion people worldwide are obese with the with the disease projected to grow in prevalence across the globe, according to the World Health Organization. Obesity has also been found to be a serious risk factor for other metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some types of cancer. A widely adopted tried-and-tested method to lose weight is to burn more calories than one consumes, and to achieve this, individuals typically count the calories of the food they eat each day. While this traditional approach for losing weight involves counting calories, time-restricted eating, without calorie counting, has also emerged as a popular strategy as it is easier to follow. However, whether intermittent fasting is as effective in producing weight loss, especially beyond the short term, has remained unclear. In the new research, scientists from the University of Illinois Chicago studied 90 adults with obesity from the Greater Chicago area to determine whether intermittent fasting or calorie restricted eating would be more effective for weight control and heart disease risk reduction. Researchers randomly assigned participants to 1 of 3 groups: 8-hour time-restricted eating from noon to 8:00 pm only without calorie counting; reducing a fourth of their calories daily; or no change in calorie consumption with eating taking place over 10 hours or more throughout the day. Participants who followed time-restricted eating and those adopting calorie restriction met regularly with a dietician. The study found that participants who engaged in time-restricted eating ate 425 fewer calories per day than the control group and lost about 4.5kg (10lb) more than the control group after one year. On the other hand, the calorie-restricted group ate 405 fewer calories per day and lost about 5.5kg (12lb) more after one year, with participants in both groups showing high adherence to their interventions. Scientists believe the new study and its findings can help make better-informed clinical decisions by taking individual preferences into consideration, rather than just choosing a diet that may be more effective. Researchers also point out that access to dieticians likely helped the participants make healthier food choices. As there was substantial individual variability in weight loss among participants using these interventions, they called for further research to determine who would most benefit from each of these diet choices. Read More Scientist behind Ozempic says drug can make life ‘so miserably boring’ Teens with severe obesity are turning to surgery and new weight loss drugs, despite controversy Two children were born with ‘insatiable hunger’ that left them severely obese. Now scientists know why British toddler has American accent after watching popular YouTube show GB News in ‘significant breach’ of Ofcom rules over Covid vaccine claims NHS unions vote to accept government pay deal – but nurses could still strike

'Summertime Sadness' singer Lana Del Rey has announced three surprise gigs across Europe next month.

Margot Robbie has revealed her feet were featured in a scene in the new Barbie movie in which the iconic doll character is seen taking off her shoes to reveal her perfect arches - as the actress refused to use a foot double

Former One Direction star Zayn Malik has dropped a huge hint he's about to release his first new music in nearly two years by sharing a short teaser clip on social media

WWE and AEW legend Chris Jericho is planning his own dark superhero movie after growing tired of other comic book films.