Rehiring Richardson looks to have been a masterstroke.

Under his tuition she has played four tour-level tournaments – including the 2021 US Open and this year’s Queen’s – and won 14 of her 17 matches.

Richardson is an old-school coach who brings volume to create good habits – basically, hitting plenty of balls and putting in the hard yards.

Known as a ‘gentle giant’, Raducanu says Richardson also has a fiery side that ignites the competitive spark in her.

His messaging can sometimes be sparse, but the targeted input has an impact with a player who likes to be challenged by her coaches.

During the second set against Vekic, Richardson could be heard telling Raducanu to drive returns up the middle of the court – to drag her opponent into the longer duels that she did not relish.

It was a tactic which changed the complexion of the match.

“It’s great to have him back. I think we have been working on this game style. The whole week I have been playing really, really good tennis and the brand of tennis that I really want to play,” Raducanu said.

“I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily the old Emma. I think it’s the new Emma.

“You take all the lessons and experience, all the different ups and downs, and you take everything. You understand a lot more what’s going on and what works for you.”

Raducanu has shown she plays better when surrounded by long-time confidants who she trusts implicitly.

On home turf, with a swell of support from friends and fans, it has been striking how relaxed and happy she has looked at Queen’s – enabling her to play with the freedom she craves.

The positive vibes which the British grass events provide Raducanu have also been evident at Wimbledon where, aside from her fairytale in New York, she has produced the best Slam results of her career.

A total of 82 bank branches are expected to close across the UK in June alone

A Cambridgeshire branch is among nearly 250 banks that are due to close in 2026 as the major banks continue their withdrawal from the high street. You can check our map to see if your local branch is on the list.

By the start of this month, 138 banks had closed across the UK in 2026. June is set to be the most destructive month so far, with 82 branches due to close this month alone, and more to follow throughout the year.

In total, closure dates have been fixed for 245 branches of the major banks by the end of this year. That includes the Santander in High Street, Huntingdon, which closed last month.

While that is the only Cambridgeshire bank scheduled to close this year, 29 banks have closed in our county since 2022. That includes 10 branch closures in Huntingdonshire, seven in Fenland, six in Cambridge, three in Peterborough, two in East Cambridgeshire, and one in South Cambridgeshire.

You can check whether your local branch is due to close using our interactive map.

The closures affect every part of the UK, with 31 branches due to shutter in Scotland, 16 in Wales, and four in Northern Ireland. The rest are spread across England.

Lloyds customers have been hardest hit, with 82 Lloyds branches already shut or scheduled to close this year, along with 43 branches of Halifax and 28 branches of Bank of Scotland. That comes after Lloyds Banking Group announced it would close 166 branches in 2026 and 2027, including branches of Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and Lloyds Bank. The decision was blamed on customers shifting away from in-person banking to using mobile services.

Meanwhile, Santander is closing 54 branches this year, and NatWest is closing 35 banks.

Since February 2022, when all major banking groups committed to a voluntary agreement to assess the impact of each closure, a total of 2,167 branches have either shut down or announced plans to close. That’s an average of nearly 10 closures each week.

The LINK initiative was established to scrutinise each closure and ensure that vulnerable customers and small businesses were not left behind in the transition to cashless payments and virtual banking. When closures leave communities without any local bank, banking hubs or free ATMs are set up to fill the gap. So far, LINK has recommended the opening of 277 bank hubs.

In May, the Government announced an independent review into access to banking, to be led by Richard Lloyd, the ex-Director General of Which? and the former interim Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority. As part of the review, Mr Lloyd has launched a consultation on the impact of branch closures and their implications for the future.

Currently, closure assessments focus on cash access and the potential gap left by a branch closure. But this assessment could be extended to include access to banking, which could mean recommending new banking hubs at branches that have already been assessed for closure, as well as at future sites. Experts believe the previous commitment of 350 hubs could increase to 550 if these changes are implemented.

Nick Quin, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, LINK: “More people are choosing to bank and pay for things digitally. Many people rely entirely on their smartphones when they leave the home, and don’t carry cash or even a wallet. That means cash use is falling too, but it remains critical, and over £76bn was withdrawn from LINK cash machines last year.

“Whenever a bank branch does close, LINK will assess the impact to see if additional cash services are required. We’re committed to protecting the cash infrastructure for the millions of people who still rely on it.”

Gareth Oakley, CEO, Cash Access UK: “The way people are banking is changing as more people choose to bank and pay for things digitally. But for those people who still rely on cash and face-to-face banking services, the good news is that more banking hubs are opening every week. We’ve opened more than 200 now, including 100 in 2025 alone.

“What’s particularly brilliant about hubs is that we can serve the customers of all the major high street banks in one location. They’re getting busier too with on average around 150 customer transactions every day. There’s a real buzz about them. Hubs alongside deposit services and other new cash solutions will continue to help businesses and consumers to readily access and deposit cash when they need to.”

Sir Keir Starmer, in a joint statement with the leaders of France, Germany and Italy, said the US-Iran deal must be “implemented rapidly and comprehensively”.

The joint statement from the so-called E4 said: “We warmly welcome the announcement of the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran. We congratulate the United States, the Iranian government and all those involved, including Pakistan, Qatar and all other mediators, on this diplomatic breakthrough.

“This is a moment of opportunity to restore regional stability and stabilise the global economy.

“It is now vital that the detailed negotiations are concluded and this agreement is implemented rapidly and comprehensively. We are ready to support that effort.

“The urgent re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz with unconditional and unrestricted freedom of navigation is essential. We are committed to playing our part to achieve this —in accordance with our respective constitutional requirements— including through a strictly defensive and independent mission to reassure commercial shipping and conduct mine clearance operations.

“Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon. We stand ready to work with the US, Iran and the IAEA to this end. We are prepared to lift relevant sanctions in response to clear, verifiable steps by Iran on its nuclear programme.

“We will work intensively with the US, Iran and regional partners to seize this moment, maintain momentum and achieve a long-term diplomatic settlement.

“We also reaffirm our full support to the stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon and the importance of a robust ceasefire.”

In The Mixer’s World Cup special

Everything you need to know about the World Cup – England updates, the games to watch and stories you missed – in five minutes, at 1pm, every day.

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Al Qapa Ibn Antar was attempting to climb the Hardah Dam volcanic crater in Dhale, Yemen when he lost his grip and fell into the 120-metre crater

A daredevil adventurer known as “The Spider-Man of Yemen” has tragically died after a stunt went wrong.

Al-Qaqa Ibn Antar, 30, was climbing the steep walls of the Hardah Dam volcanic crater in the southern province of Dhale on Friday when he lost his grip and fell into the 120 meter (393 feet) crater below. He was attempting to climb vertical rock faces without any safety equipment, authorities said.

The Civil Defense Authority posted a short video capturing the moment of his fall. The 10-second video shows Antar climbing a rocky cliff without any safety equipment. On the cliff he is scaling names in Arabic have been written in white across the rock face. He is then seen holding the cliff with his right hand, with his left hand in the air, before he appears to lose his right grip and falls.

Rescue teams, including diving and water specialists, were sent to retrieve Antar’s body, which was found by divers at a depth of 30 meters (100 feet) below the water surface. The four-hour search and rescue operation was described by the authority as “complex” due to the steep and rocky location which made access difficult.

The Hardah Dam — known also as the Haradhat Damt — is a unique volcanic crater located near the city of Damt, in Yemen ‘s southern Dahle province. A landmark of the region, the crater has steep rocky walls with a hot sulfurous lake at its base.

Antar had gained fame on social media platforms where he posted videos showing him performing high-risk ascents of some of Yemen’s most rugged terrain. His videos often went viral. In one of them he was seen hanging from the edge of a rocky cliff using his bare hands, his legs dangling toward a steep slope in a risky performance without safety equipment.

The Civil Defense Authority has urged those who climb and engage in adventure sports to observe safety procedures and issued a warning to use “appropriate protective gear to avert similar incidents.”

Andrew Husband, Reform leader of the council, said the authority had made significant progress in supporting the local economy, improving community safety and tackling homelessness, while managing what he described as a continuing care crisis and the impact of changes to local government funding.

Speaking as councillors reviewed the council’s latest performance report, Cllr Husband said the authority had remained focused on directing resources towards areas that matter most to residents.

“We have continued to deliver strongly across many of our priorities, while also being open about the challenges we are managing,” the Chester-le-Street member said. 

“It demonstrates how we have continued to respond to the care crisis and wider operational challenges we face as a large and complex council, while dealing with the impacts of national reforms in areas like local government finance, which do little to resolve our structural funding gaps.”

The report shows the council supported 1,429 businesses over the past year, secured 14 inward investment projects and helped create or safeguard 1,673 jobs across County Durham.

Council investment of £1 million in festivals and events generated an estimated £7.6 million for the local economy, according to the report.

The council said reports of anti-social behaviour had fallen to their lowest level in two years, while fly-tipping remained low at 9.6 incidents per 1,000 residents. 

The report highlighted work to address housing pressures, with 483 households helped to retain or secure accommodation and 889 households assessed as homeless receiving support during the year.

The authority also met its target to repair 90 per cent of road network defects within agreed timescales in three out of four repair categories.

And Cllr Husband said these improvements showed residents were seeing the benefits of the council’s work.

He told cabinet members: “Together, that adds to the sense that alongside our economic ambitions we are continuing to deliver practical improvements which residents can see and feel in their day-to-day lives.”