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‘Difficult experience’ – Emma Raducanu breaks silence after being left in tears on court by ‘fixated’ man in crowd

EMMA RADUCANU has spoken out for the first time after being targeted by a man “exhibiting fixated behaviour” at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old broke down in tears during her second round match against Karolina Muchova after spotting the man in the crowd.

Emma Raducanu on a tennis court, holding her racket.
Getty
Emma Raducanu has issued a message on social media[/caption]

Clearly in distress, she then walked behind the umpire’s chair while the person was ejected.

After being comforted by Muchova, Raducanu returned to her seat before eventually resuming the match.

The 22-year-old took to Instagram to write: “Thank you for the messages of support.

“Difficult experience yesterday but I’ll be okay and proud of how I came back and competed despite what happened at the start of the match.

“Thank you to Karolina for being a great sport and best of luck to her for the rest of the tournament.”

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Man Utd owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘in talks to CANCEL Tottenham sponsorship two years early’ in fresh wave of cutbacks

SIR JIM RATCLIFFE’S Ineos are in talks to cancel their Tottenham sponsorship two years early.

Spurs have a multi-million pound, five-year deal with the petrochemical company that sees their dugout seats bear the Ineos name.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe at a Manchester United event.
Getty
Sir Jim Ratcliffe could cut short Ineos’ Tottenham deal[/caption]
Ineos Grenadier 4x4 driving on a road.
Alamy
The deal secures the Ineos Grenadier as Spurs’ ‘official 4×4 vehicle partner’[/caption]

Th deal was signed in December 2022 to promote the Ineos Grenadier car.

It is Tottenham’s “official 4×4 vehicle partner” but it seems that link could be approaching an end.

Ineos are in discussions with the club over withdrawing from the agreement two years before it expires, report The Telegraph.

It comes amid a strew of cuts at Manchester United overseen by Ratcliffe.

SunSport understands the club is set to axe up to 200 more staff in his latest cost-cutting move.

All departments are at risk of seeing their numbers slashed.

A source exclusively told The Sun: “Ultimately, football is a business but there are hundreds of people who work tirelessly behind-the-scenes who contribute to any club’s success.

“Morale is already on the floor after last year’s job losses. This will come as another big blow.”

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It comes after Ratcliffe made 250 of the 1,150 workforce redundant in July.

Ratcliffe is reportedly concerned the club could go bust unless radical cuts are made.

United lost £300m over the past three years – but the United co-owner is confident he can turn things around in two seasons.

Insiders told the outlet United would have “run out of cash” had Ratcliffe not injected £240m last year.

And Ratcliffe is prepared to keep going with his cost-cutting – despite knowing it is hugely unpopular with fans.

Almost every United player could be up for sale this summer at Old Trafford.

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Love Island All Stars final voting percentages as couple who NEARLY won show is revealed

THE voting percentages for the Love Island All Stars final have been revealed – and it was extremely close.

Monday night’s Love Island All Stars finale saw Gabby Allen and Casey O’Gorman win the show.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ricardo De Leca/ITV/REX/Shutterstock (15154846bp) Casey O'Gorman and Gabby Allen 'Love Island: All Stars' TV Show, Final, South Africa - 17 Feb 2025
Casey and Gabby are this year’s All Stars winners
Shutterstock
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ricardo De Leca/ITV/REX/Shutterstock (15154846cq) Grace Jackson and Luca Bish 'Love Island: All Stars' TV Show, Final, South Africa - 17 Feb 2025
Grace and Luca were right behind them
Shutterstock
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ricardo De Leca/ITV/REX/Shutterstock (15154846k) Luca Bish, Casey O'Gorman, Sammy Root, Omar Nyame, Curtis Pritchard, Elma Pazar, Gabby Allen, Ekin Su, Catherine Agbaje and Grace Jackson 'Love Island: All Stars' TV Show, Final, South Africa - 17 Feb 2025
The 2025 Love Island Stars finalists
Shutterstock

But the figures reveal Grace Jackson and Luca Bish weren’t far behind them.

Gabby and Casey scored 33.37% of the votes, while Grace and Luca came in just behind them with 30.38%.

Ekin-Su Cülcüloglu and Curtis Pritchard got 21.74%, Catherine Agbaje and Omar Nyame landed 8.14% and Elma Pazar and Sammy Root ended up with 6.36%.

Grace and Luca had been the firm favourites to scoop the £50,000 prize before the shock result was announced.

Gabby and Casey later revealed how they will spend their winnings.

Following their victory the couple appeared on The Morning After podcast to speak to host and series five star Amy Hart

Amy, 31, said: “You’re about to have a little windfall into your bank – fifty grand, twenty five grand each, what are you going to spend it on?”

Gabby replied: “I didn’t even know that was a thing until just now! I didn’t know that’s what you won.”

Amy quizzed: “Did they ask for your bank details, like, ‘we’ll transfer you’.”

A stunned Gabby said: “Yeah! It was literally that.”

Casey said: “We’ve got to go away. Somewhere nice. I think we’ll go to the Maldives.”

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Dmitry Bivol reveals he lies on bed of NAILS and has unlikely hobby that risks disrupting boxing career

DMITRY BIVOL lies on a bed of nails to relax – so fighting Artur Beterbiev again is a bed of roses.

The 34-year-old pinned his hopes on three judges awarding him the light-heavyweight undisputed honour in October, after a classy display.

Artur Beterbiev boxing Dmitry Bivol.
GETTY
Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev went to war for all the 175lb titles last October[/caption]
Artur Beterbiev celebrates a boxing victory.
Getty
The judges spiked Bivol’s dream of undisputed glory by giving Beterbiev the nod[/caption]
Dmitry Bivol discussing a bed of nails.
GQ SPORTS
Bivol is no stranger to a sharp sticking as he regularly lays on a bed of nails[/caption]

But they spiked his dreams by handing his bearded 41-year-old rival a majority decision that left fans of the super-killer Canelo conquered deflated.

Somehow, Bivol refused to rage at none of the three judges preferring his brilliant back-foot skills to the Chechen’s thudding blows.

But, when the father-of-two chills out on a net of needles, we shouldn’t be surprised he took the disappointment with an ice-cool head.

Opening up on the bizarre contraption he uses for a form of meditation, Bivol said: “I use it to relax – not to sleep on!

“Of course it’s painful but you need to relax to not feel the pain. If you tense then you feel pain.

“When you relax, your body melts and you don’t feel the pain. If you tense, then of course it hurts.

“It’s just a personal thing I like, I have some problems with my lower back so I use it to relax my lower back.

“And when I relax my lower back it helps my legs and everything else relax.

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Beterbiev vs Bivol 2: Start time, TV channel, full card – everything you need to know for MASSIVE Saudi rematch

“In life, you need to work and also relax, everything needs balance.

“I walk and run and work all day and it’s just another way for me to relax. It is good for the mind too.”

Another unlikely hobby that is good for Bivol’s laser-focused mind – but not for his bones – is his new love of snowboarding.

Despite having mega-money fights in the pipeline with Bivol and beyond, Bivol hits the slopes and occasionally damages his body and ego.

He explained: “I tried snowboarding once and then I had to buy two and am trying to learn.

“I have had a couple of small accidents but nothing big.

“I had a problem with my collarbone, I fell on it and felt like an idiot because I am supposed to be a professional boxer.

Of course it’s painful but you need to relax to not feel the pain. If you tense then you feel pain.

Dmitry Bivol

“But snowboarding helps clear my mind, I focus only on my balance, no boxing, and I am in amazing mountain places, surrounded by fresh air and floating down a mountain.”

Bivol had to miss the eighth birthday of his youngest son Nikon, at the start of fight week.

But he and 10-year-old Miron were in camp for the first battle and know that his daddy’s sacrifices are all for them.

But the old man is in no rush to push his boys into the same sport that has made him, especially after watching unknown American kids and his hero Arturo Gatti destroy themselves.

“I am missing them,” he said. “I call them everyday but kids don’t like video calls, they want face-to-face time.

Dmitrii Bivol and Artur Beterbiev boxing.
GETTY
Dmitry Bivol will bid to exact revenge on his countryman on Saturday night[/caption]
Dmitry Bivol reacting on stage before a boxing match.
GETTY
Bivol had to miss his youngest son’s eighth birthday in preparation for the fight[/caption]
Dmitry Bivol punches Artur Beterbiev in a boxing match.
GETTY
Dmitry Bivol doesn’t foresee himself and Artur Beterbiev having a warm embrace after their rematch[/caption]

“They have gloves and have trained but I haven’t pushed them.

“I remember being in America and watching young kids there spar and every round was a war, it was not sparring, it was fighting. Sparring should not be like that.

“I want them to understand what those three minutes mean but, when I saw that, I knew I never wanted my sons to train like that.

“I respect Arturo Gatti so much but I would never want my sons to fight like Arturo Gatti.”

Despite years on the Russian amateur team together, the pair have never bonded.

And even after a potential 24 rounds spent in each other’s pocket, Bivol rejects the idea the final bell will be the precursor to the sort of brotherly hug and lifelong connection that boxing’s greatest rivalries are usually sealed with.

“I have my kung fu and he has his – both are good,” he perfectly puts it.

“But, when this bell ends, we will just walk away.

“We were in the same national team for a long time and we were not friends then, so we will not be friends now?

“If we weren’t friends then, why would we now?”

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Three Michelin-hailed restaurants suddenly close down on SAME day as owners blame Rachel Reeves’ brutal Budget tax hit

THREE Michelin-hailed restaurants were all forced to shut on the same day as Rachel Reeve’s tax spikes.

The swanky venues closed before facing the “looming impact” of the Autumn budget.

Interior of La Goccia bar with a bartender.
Petersham Nurseries
Michelin-hailed restaurant La Goccia is one of the three Petersham UK restaurants closing[/caption]
Patrons dining at an outdoor restaurant under a pergola.
Alamy
Petersham Nurseries, renowned as a high-end garden centre, is also shutting shop[/caption]
People relaxing outside Petersham Nurseries in London.
Alamy
Covent Garden’s Petersham Nurseries delicatessen has been a hotspot for tourists and locals alike[/caption]

La Goccia, the Petersham, and the Petersham Wine Bar & Deli were recognised for their glam decor and Italian-style dishes.

But now the branches, which opened in 2018, will have to cut their losses as the sites face “unsustainably high costs.”

Co-founder and director of the Petersham Nurseries, Lara Boglione, told The Times they were desperately trying to find a solution.

She said with “significant cost challenges” and “legacy issues relating to the trading impact of Covid-19 and Brexit” the restaurants would struggle.

Rachel Reeve’s budget outlined an increase in minimum wage and employers’ national insurance contribution, which would increase overall costs.

With more outgoing expenses and smaller profit margins, the Petersham Nurseries brand claims it would not be able to sustain the restaurant trio.

After the budget was revealed, experts warned that venues with the lowest-paid workers would be hit the hardest by the tax rises.

Boffins from The Centre for Policy Studies said employers with staff on the minimum wage would be forced to pay £2,367 extra per worker.

Not to mention spikes in national insurance that were implemented this year.

It’s unknown what any of the venue’s staff wage is, but Peterhsham UK, the parent company, will now sell all its assets as it goes into liquidation.

The brand was born in a garden nursery of a property bought by the Boglione Family in 1977.

With its roots in Petersham House, Petersham Nursery started to take shape in 2002 and evolved into the three beloved London restaurants we know today.

Each venue offers a luxury menu and a range of high-end eats with cooking classes on offer and a lavish cocktail bar.

The Richmond garden centre is also famous for its upmarket items, and stunning leafy landscapes.

It’s been pinned as a popular filming location and even made the papers when it sold pre-decorated Christmas trees for £1,500.

Whatever profit was made with those costly Christmas trees unfortunately was not enough to pull Petersham UK through the budget.

The brand claimed their strong sales growth in 2023 was not matched in 2024 and Petersham UK put these figures down to recruitment issues stemming from Brexit.

A company spokesperson said the withdrawal from the EU left an “inability to recruit people with the right experience and skills.”

Less public spending has also affected the hospitality industry, with thousands of pubs shutting up shop.

Factors including the cost of living crisis, an increase in bills, and a rise in rent, has led to fewer Brits splashing the cash.

Without as much disposable income, fewer customers pour money into hospitality making it difficult to sustain.

It was revealed that six pubs were shut every week last year as they were hit by rising business costs.

What is happening to the hospitality industry?

By Laura McGuire, consumer reporter

MANY Food and drink chains have been struggling in recently as the cost of living has led to fewer people spending on eating out.

Businesses had been struggling to bounce back after the pandemic, only to be hit with soaring energy bills and inflation.

Multiple chains have been affected, resulting in big-name brands like Wetherspoons and Frankie & Benny’s closing branches.

Some chains have not survived, Byron Burger fell into administration last year, with owners saying it would result in the loss of over 200 jobs.

Pizza giant, Papa Johns is shutting down 43 of its stores soon.

Tasty, the owner of Wildwood, said it will shut sites as part of major restructuring plans.

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