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Stan Wawrinka on setbacks, preparing for Wimbledon and friendship with Roger Federer
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
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Nutritionist explains how women can eat to help balance hormones
Some healthy eating principles apply to just about everyone – drinking enough water and consuming plenty of fresh fruit and veg, for example. But when it comes to hormones, a lot of diet advice neglects to mention the vast difference between women’s and men’s health. “Women are very under-represented in research, mainly because we have a menstrual cycle,” says functional nutritionist and author Pauline Cox. “My passion and mission is to empower women with the information and knowledge that can radically change their immediate health and their long-term health.” Cox, 43, who started her career as a physiotherapist before becoming a nutritionist, now mainly works with groups of women online and has just released her second book, Hungry Woman: Eating for Good Health, Happiness and Hormones. “I felt there was a lot of information that could be shared with women to help them understand their hormones, and understand that we don’t have to get frustrated with ourselves and fight our female physiology.” At the heart of the issue is the balance (or lack thereof) between oestrogen and progesterone levels. “When our progesterone levels are low, our oestrogen can become dominant, and that’s when we start to see things like PMS, heavy periods, painful periods, flooding at the beginning of our periods,” says Cox, who lives in Somerset. “A lot o women accept that as part of their monthly cycle, but when we bring our progesterone levels back up, it helps to balance the effect of oestrogen.” Here, she explains five ways women can tailor their diets to keep their hormones in check… 1. Look after your liver “Oestrogen is a driving-growth hormone,” Cox explains, using the analogy of grass growing on a lawn to explain how the two hormones interact. “Progesterone is like the lawnmower. It comes along and it keeps the grass in check. When we lose progesterone, oestrogen gets out of control.” That’s why it’s important that our bodies are able to clear oestrogen efficiently through the liver, gut and bowels. “How much oestrogen we clear can be influenced by what we eat and how we live,” says Cox. “There’s a lot of cruciferous in the book – cauliflower, broccoli, these are really great vegetables to support liver detoxification.” 2. Add fermented foods To deliver beneficial bacteria to your gut, try including fermented foods like pickled vegetables, kefir, kombucha or natural yoghurt as part of your daily diet. “Our gut diversity declines as we age and microbiome diversity has been linked with longevity and good health,” says Cox, who suggests just a tablespoon of sauerkraut a day can make a difference. “These are easy wins…to maximise our longevity and optimise our gut-brain axis, which is incredibly important.” 3. Avoid ultra-processed foods There’s been a lot of talk recently about how detrimental ultra-processed foods are, and that includes the effect on hormone levels. “When we’re eating high sugar, processed foods, our inflammatory levels go up and our cortisol level goes up, which robs us of progesterone,” Cox says. Plus, filling up with these empty calories – as delicious as they often are – means we have less room for nutritious foods. “They can often be devoid of nutrients, so you’re not getting the nutrients you need for building hormones and supporting hormonal health like magnesium, zinc, B vitamins, and omega three fatty acids.” 4. Create an eating window It’s not just what you eat, it’s when. Cox recommends having an ‘eating window’ during the day that ends around 6pm, so that there’s a gap of a few hours before you go to bed. “When your blood sugars go up at night, your kidneys have to kick in to try and remove this excess blood sugar, which then means you’re up in the night urinating,” she says. “A lot of women associate this with drinking a lot before bed, but actually eating late at night can also be for that reason.” Choosing meals that are nutritious and satisfying is the next step. “Within that window, start becoming a bit more conscious of your carbs and upping your protein,” she continues. “So you’re feeling full, your body’s getting all the amino acids it needs, and you’re maybe not having so much of the grab-and-go food like the sandwiches, the pasta, the crisps.” 5. Monitor your magnesium “Most women are sub-clinically deficient in magnesium,” Cox explains, which can cause insomnia, and the risk increases with age. “As we get to about the age of 40, we absorb less magnesium than we would have in our 20s.” Diet also plays a role: “If we have high blood sugars and levels of inflammation when we’re stressed, we lose magnesium.” She recommends taking a magnesium glycinate or bisglycinate supplement before bed to increase your chance of getting a good night’s sleep. “The glycine part of that helps to reduce your core body temperature, which is what the body wants when it’s going to bed,” she says. “That compound also helps get you into what’s called REM sleep, which is the sleep where you’re consolidating memories and learning.” Hungry Woman by Pauline Cox is published by Ebury Press, priced £27. Photography by Luke Albert. Available Now. 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