Sara

US Open 2025: Sara Errani and Andrea Vavussori win mixed doubles title by beating Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud

If the opening day had the air of an exhibition at certain times, the finals night immediately felt like business.

From the start it brought the feel of a traditional US Open showpiece event, with a patriotic rendition of the national anthem and a group of US Marine Corps standing with an unfurled Stars and Stripes flag providing pomp.

Many feel the overhaul has devalued the mixed doubles as a major title. Some are even putting asterisks next to the champions.

Given that, the stadium announcer outlining what winning the title would mean for each player’s Grand Slam résumé felt like an attempt to add legitimacy.

The opening semi-final was played at a ferocious intensity – not surprising given the will-to-win of the characters involved – while Ruud calling for a VAR-style check on a Pegula shot was another indication of how seriously it was being taken.

At 3-3 30-30, the umpire confirmed the American had not reached over the net – following fervent discussion between the opposing players – with Pegula and Draper using the momentum to win the opening set.

But Pegula’s clasp of her head after they blew an 8-4 lead in the first-to-10 match tie-break summed up their bitter disappointment at missing a shot for the trophy.

Unsurprisingly, Errani and Vavassori were also seriously pumped up.

The duo mirroring Hulk Hogan-style underarm bicep flexes after winning their semi-final was one of the defining images.

While the energy on court ramped up, the emphasis on providing entertainment for those watching in the stands remained.

A pair of DJs were perched behind courtside decks, tasked with whipping up the crowd through a New York-inspired playlist including Jay-Z, Cyndi Lauper and the Friends theme tune, while the familiar sight of Celeb Cam and Dance Cam added to the party atmosphere.

Fashion icon Anna Wintour, who recently stepped back from her role as Vogue editor-in-chief, added further star-dust in a near-full capacity crowd.

Thousands stayed late until the end and were rewarded with a fine finale to a transformative tournament which looks destined to stay in the coming years.

Source link

TODAY’S TV WITH SARA WALLIS: Noel Edmonds reveals secret to good health in ITV show airing tonight

Having left showbusiness, Noel Edmonds is enjoying a new life in New Zealand, where he focuses on energy, healing crystals and being in tune with the cosmos…

Noel Edmonds' Kiwi Adventure starts on ITV
Noel Edmonds’ Kiwi Adventure starts on ITV(Image: ITV)

Ever wondered what happened to Noel Edmonds? For decades, he used to rule the radio waves and Saturday night telly, then suddenly he disappeared. Cut to Noel in his swimming trunks standing under an icy cold shower saying gratitudes, with a few sheep wandering around in the background.

In 2018, Noel turned his back on showbusiness and moved 11,500 miles away with his wife Liz to New Zealand. “I think I might have found my paradise,” he says in Noel Edmonds’ Kiwi Adventure, which starts tonight (June 20) on ITV at 9pm. The couple have spent the last two years building a business in the quiet town of Ngatimoti. River Haven, with the strapline ‘Positively Together’, boats a vineyard, coffee cart, general store, and a restaurant and pub, called The Bugger Inn.

Noel and his wife Liz Davies at their haven in New Zealand
Noel and his wife Liz Davies at their haven in New Zealand(Image: ITV)

On their 800 acres of land, Noel also wants to create a wellness sanctuary and even New Zealand’s first energy garden, whatever that is. “I am John Wayne, I am Clint Eastwood!” says Noel, delighted to be holding a power tool. He’s clearly still a showman. This three-parter follows the challenges, from being accepted by the locals, to bad weather, the absence of tourists and everyone else going bust.

But most fascinating is the insight into Noel’s complete dedication to energy and healing. Lying under a quartz crystal healing bed, the 76-year-old talks about his ‘light bulb moment’ about his health – “We are all body energy systems”. He dedicates his good health to six things – nutrition and good food, good ‘structured’ water, pulsed electro magnetism, tranquil exercise, vibe (his term for ‘visualisation of body energy;) and meditation. Throw in some cold showers and ice baths (we see him with his shirt off A LOT), saunas and a hyperbaric oxygen chamber three times a week and “I am rocking,” he says.

There is much talk of the matrix and universal energy. The couple even has a big clock permanently set to the specific time Noel and Liz met – she was his make up artist on Deal or No Deal. Noel says: “Liz was sent to me. She is an Earth angel. The sustenance of her energy is my life blood. You will never pull us apart because we are one. I believe it’s a gift from the cosmos. This was the time of my life.” Noel also opens up about the negative press he has received, saying: “I do actually care what people think about me. Criticism does hurt. I’m hugely sensitive.” And he explains that he left Britain because the country changed so much. He says: “I missed a quieter country. We’re not trees, so we can move.”

Noel Edmonds’ Kiwi Adventure is airing on ITV tonight at 9pm.

There’s plenty more on TV tonight – here’s the best of the rest..

ALISON HAMMOND’S BIG WEEKEND, BBC1, 8.30pm

In the last of this brilliant series, which will surely be commissioned for a second round, Alison spends the weekend with world champion boxer Tony Bellew. Visiting his house in Southport, Alison learns that Tony and his wife, Rachael, are in the middle of big house renovations. He opens up about life after retirement, sharing his struggles with boredom, missing the thrill of fights and the toll his boxing career has taken on his health.

Tony reveals that due to the number of punches he’s taken to the head, his memory has been affected, and he fears that there may be more health implications to come. He also shows Alison the ropes and puts her through her paces in the ring, revealing that he owes his life to his boxing gym. After taking on Tony on the pads, Alison and Tony head to Goodison Park, not only the home of Tony’s beloved football team but the site where he won his world championship title.

NOT GOING OUT, BBC1, 9pm

For old school Friday night comedy, with a relentless stream of gags, surely this wins every time. Lee Mack, a veteran of the one-liner, plays Lee, who constantly finds himself in ridiculous, farcical situations, causing his wife Lucy (Sally Bretton) to spend the entire episode rolling her eyes.

In this instalment (Mack’s favourite episode), Lee brings a battered box back from the tip, with no idea what is in it. “When I was a kid, going through the bins was like flicking through the Argos catalogue,” says Lee as he rips the box open. But gets a shock when he opens it in front of Lucy and finds what looks like a dead body, but actually turns out to be a robotic sex doll. “It can’t be human, the face looks like it’s silicon,” says Lucy. “Have you not seen Love Island?” quips Lee. What follows is the usual caper as Lee starts to realise what he’s actually dealing with.

EMMERDALE, ITV1, 7.30pm

After a restless night, Robert bumps into Victoria outside Keepers. He clearly wants to avoid opening up to her about his time in prison. After she finally sits him down in Keepers for a chat, Vic’s left worried that Robert still thinks he can win Aaron back. After Charity makes clear that she’s definitely accompanying Sarah to her cancer operation, Sarah eventually expresses her gratitude. Paddy enlists Bob’s help as he tries to get Bear to open up about what’s burdening him.

CORONATION STREET, ITV1, 8pm

Debbie breaks the news to Ronnie and Leanne that she needs to cancel the awards ceremony as there’s a flood at the hotel, but Leanne offers to host it at Speed Daal. Todd finds Theo in the living room repeatedly snapping the elastic band on his wrist. Millie tells them that living with her mum is stressing her out, but when Theo suggests she stays with them a bit longer, will Todd agree? Dee-Dee and James clash over Laila.

Join The Mirror’s WhatsApp Community or follow us on Google News , Flipboard , Apple News, TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads – or visit The Mirror homepage.



Source link

TODAY’S TV WITH SARA WALLIS: Long Lost Family helps a man who was left outside toilet block as baby

In another emotional instalment, two people who are foundlings, tell Davina and Nicky their stories and hope to trace family

Davina McCall and searcher Simon Prothero in Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace
Davina McCall and searcher Simon Prothero in Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace(Image: ITV)

Every single story from Long Lost Family could be turned into a daytime sobathon movie in its own right. Pretty much every episode leaves viewers weeping into their wine, and this show is the perfect example of a cast-iron format that nails it every time. Davina McCall is walking along a coastline in a coat we all want to buy immediately.

She tells us the sad story of someone searching for their relative. Cut to said person’s kitchen and Davina has news. Pause. She produces a photo. Maybe even a letter. Everyone is in floods of tears, and that’s before the reunion even happens. Kleenex anyone?

Elsewhere, Nicky Campbell is providing a shoulder to cry on, while someone spits into a test tube. The spin-off series, Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace (tonight June 18, ITV, 9pm) focuses on foundlings, people left as babies, often in the most extraordinary places and in the first hours or days of life. We’ve heard about babies left in cardboard boxes, on doorsteps, at churches, in hospital car parks, and in one case a London phone box and even under a hedge.

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell help people find loved ones
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell help people find loved ones

In tonight’s emotional episode, Simon Prothero tells how he was found as a newborn in the summer of 1966 in the outside toilet block of a children’s home in Neath, Wales. Simon, who was adopted and grew up 10 miles away, says: “I don’t know where I was born, when I was born, what the circumstances were. I don’t know who my mother is.” As the team cracks into action, it’s especially sad as we learn that Simon’s adoptive parents and his wife Helen have died, but a DNA search connects to a large family from North Wales. Watch out for the moment Simon discovers his birth mother is alive and in her 80s, though she’s not yet ready for contact.

In another story, Lisa Dyke tells how she was discovered as a newborn in May 1969, just a few hours old, outside a health clinic in Christchurch, Dorset. She’d been put into another baby’s pram. She says: “Why was I left in another child’s pram? Who left me? I just want to know the truth.”

Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace is airing on ITV tonight at 9pm.

There’s plenty more on TV tonight – here’s the best of the rest..

RACE ACROSS THE WORLD, BBC1, 9pm

It’s been emotional, as five intrepid pairs have taken on the 14,000km race of a lifetime, from the Great Wall of China to the southern tip of India. In the end, mother and son Caroline and Tom took first place in a hard-fought win. Six months later, the contestants meet for the first time in this reunion episode, sharing their greatest highs and agonising lows. The teams reminisce about being forced out of their comfort zones and traversing the two most populated countries on earth.

For former married couple, Yin and Gaz, it’s a chance to learn who has won the race. Brothers Brian and Melvyn look back at how the race enabled them to make up for lost time, while sisters Elizabeth and Letitia tell how the adventure changed them. Teenage couple Fin and Sioned, who were catapulted into the deep end for their first backpacking experience together, share their future plans. An intimate insight with behind-the-scenes insights and unseen moments. “I wish we were starting it all again,” says Caroline.

THE BUCCANEERS, APPLE TV+

For anyone not familiar with ‘The Buccaneers’, they are a group of fun-loving young American girls, who exploded into the tightly corseted London of the 1870s, setting hearts racing. Now, the Buccaneers are no longer the invaders – England is their home. In fact, they’re practically running the place.

Nan (Kristine Froseth) is the Duchess of Tintagel, the most influential woman in the country. Conchita (Alisha Boe) is Lady Brightlingsea, heroine to a wave of young American heiresses. And Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse) is on every front page, wanted for the kidnapping of her unborn child.

All of the girls have been forced to grow up and now have to fight to be heard, as they wrestle with romance, lust, jealousy, births and deaths. Last time we got a taste of England. This time we’re in for a veritable feast. Also starring Christina Hendricks as Nan’s mum Patti, this is an addictive culture-clash historical romp.

EMMERDALE, ITV1, 7.30pm

Getting increasingly frustrated with his motorbike, Bear snaps and threatens Kammy. Paddy sees this from a distance and puts a stop to it. Paddy and Mandy are dumbfounded when Bear later acts as if nothing has happened. Bear becomes irritated by their questioning and heads away upstairs, leaving Paddy and Mandy to fear that things are getting worse. Vinny continues to give Kammy the cold shoulder. Vanessa tries to get through to Tracy, but Tracy’s not interested in her excuses.

EASTENDERS, BBC1, 7.30pm

Kat doesn’t feel any better following her conversation with Alfie and feels that he isn’t being completely honest with her. The drinks start flowing at Elaine’s divorce party. As the night gets steadily messier, Elaine shocks Linda by declaring that the Prosecco is on the house all night. Later, a tipsy Elaine offers to book Priya a singles cruise, saying she can pay her back later. Linda is then horrified to see £5k leave the business account and confronts Elaine.

CORONATION STREET, ITV1, 8pm

Glenda and Sean hand out leaflets advertising the Rovers’ Drag Night. Todd suggests to Theo they should go. When Debbie admits to Bernie that she finds it hard being in the same room as Ronnie, Bernie suggests they head to her hotel. Dee-Dee opens a letter stating that Laila is due for her vaccinations but when Michael tells her that James is in Leeds, she realises that she’ll have to take Laila herself. Kevin gets ready to leave for his chemo session.

Join The Mirror’s WhatsApp Community or follow us on Google News , Flipboard , Apple News, TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads – or visit The Mirror homepage.



Source link