British hope Dan Cox is within sight of a surprise third Wimbledon appearance and this time it will not come at the expense of his mental health.
The 25 year old from Lincolnshire overcame a rankings gap of 427 places in a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker in the first round of qualifying on Tuesday.
Two more wins would see Cox book his place at the All England Club.
The last time he played at Wimbledon, in 2014, it appeared things had never been better. His ranking was just outside the top 200, more than 300 places higher than it is now. But the reality was different.
“It was a difficult time,” he said. “I travelled a lot to get my ranking up to try to get into Wimbledon and it took its toll on my body and mentally it was very tough.
“Travelling all that time, spending a lot of money. Afterwards I needed to take a break because I didn’t feel well mentally. Obviously I can’t afford to pay a coach to travel with me and it was just the stress of everyday life on the tour. Being away from home, being on your own, it kind of drives you nuts, you go a bit crazy in the head.
“I tried to take as much pressure off myself as I could and just tried to remember why I started playing. I didn’t start playing to put myself through this.
“I played the game just because I enjoy playing and right now that’s how I feel. From that experience I’m just trying to keep myself enjoying it and not trying to work myself into a hole again.”
Related: Andy Murray could go into Wimbledon 'feeling rubbish' despite winning record fifth Queen's title
Read also: Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard defies rain to advance at Eastbourne
Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska took a shortcut into the third round of the WTA Eastbourne event when Croatian opponent Mirjana Lucic-Baroni retired ill trailing 6-4, 2-1.
Radwanska, the 2008 champion, needed just 47 minutes at Devonshire Park to advance.
She moves directly into a showdown with former fellow Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard after the unseeded Canadian booked her spot with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Romanian 15th seed Irina Begu.
“I love the grass and I’m really glad to be back here,” Radwanska said.
Bouchard is also up for the challenge.
“I’ve had some results that I wasn’t satisfied with, so coming into this week I really kicked myself in the butt,” she said.
“I told myself to go after it and not have any regrets.”
France’s Kristina Mladenovic earned an upset by beating Swiss fourth seed Timea Bacsinszky 6-1, 7-5.
Caroline Wozniacki beat seventh seed Samantha Stosur, 6-2, 6-1. Double Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, the No 5 seed beat Hungarian Timea Babos 6-4, 7-6, while Slovak 12th seed Dominika Cibulkova advanced against Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 6-3.
Damir Dzumhur eliminated the defending champion from the Nottingham Open on Tuesday, and then lost in straight sets a few hours later.
The Bosnian beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 1-6, 7-6, 6-4, winning the third set after the match was suspended by darkness on Monday. But in his second-round match, Dzumhur lost Vasek Pospisil 6-1, 6-4.
Also, former top-10 player Mikhail Youzhny, who won the last of his 10 titles in 2013, beat Pablo Carreno Busta 6-1, 6-4 in the second round, while Dudi Sela of Israel defeated third-seeded Joao Sousa 6-3, 7-6.
Other winners included Sam Querrey, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Andreas Seppi, Gilles Muller and Marcos Baghdatis.
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
The five pillars of Islam
Tank warfare
Lt Gen Erik Petersen, deputy chief of programs, US Army, has argued it took a “three decade holiday” on modernising tanks.
“There clearly remains a significant armoured heavy ground manoeuvre threat in this world and maintaining a world class armoured force is absolutely vital,” the general said in London last week.
“We are developing next generation capabilities to compete with and deter adversaries to prevent opportunism or miscalculation, and, if necessary, defeat any foe decisively.”
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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