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Hôpital de La Tour is proud to offer multidisciplinary care entirely dedicated to couples, women, mothers and babies. We specialize in areas of expertise as varied as fertility problems, female health and even pediatric follow-up care. The different fields are highly-specialized and serve as the link between a mother and her newborn baby at every stage of their lives.

Our sizable team of specialists are all under one roof to ensure you and your baby receive the highest standard of care alongside personalized monitoring and follow-up support in a fully-equipped, state-of-the-art facility.

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Related topics, new maternal-foetal medicine centre at hôpital de la tour, vivienne and vincent: our c-section story.

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Taking a Hospital Tour During Pregnancy

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Labor & Delivery

You and your baby are fully supported with compassionate care at our San Manuel Maternity Pavilion . At the pavilion, you’ll find expanded access to our award winning, high-quality services for your labor and delivery journey. With more than 3,000 babies delivered each year, we have the expertise you need and the compassionate approach you and your family deserve.

Why Choose Us For Your Baby’s Delivery

• Comprehensive care : Every aspect of labor and delivery care is supported at our San Manuel Maternity Pavilion, which spans the entire fifth floor of the new Children’s Hospital tower.
• Your journey, our expertise : No matter the type of birth (vaginal or cesarean) or choice for pain management, our board-certified obstetricians and anesthesiologists are ready to get you through it safely.
• Recognized for quality : Our maternity care services have been recognized for quality by Blue Cross Blue Shield, The Leapfrog Group and Newsweek.
• Complete C-section support : Your delivery is fully supported with clear drapes, skin-to-skin contact in the operating room and a family-centered process. Our C-section delivery rate for first-time moms is among the best in the state.
• Breastfeeding support : We support and encourage breastfeeding, with inpatient and outpatient lactation services. We were even named the first Baby-Friendly Children's Hospital in the country for encouraging breastfeeding for all newborns.
• With you every step of the way : We offer educational, fitness and postpartum support classes to prepare you for everything that comes before, during and after childbirth.

Support for the Whole Journey

The birthing process.

We know the birth of your baby is one of life’s precious miracles. The San Manuel Maternity Pavilion is designed to provide you the services and amenities you need during delivery.

• Our private labor, delivery and recovery suites give you the peaceful, comfortable birth experience you deserve.
• Two support people can be present to support you during birth. Dedicated family waiting rooms provide a welcoming space for loved ones who have come to support you.
• Our expert physicians and nurses ensure compassionate care for a positive and safe delivery for both low-risk and high-risk deliveries. Anesthesiologists are always available to provide epidural pain medicine and support in emergencies.
• If a C-section delivery becomes necessary, our experienced physician team will deliver your baby in specialized surgical suites.
• Our well-baby nursery provides specialized neonatal care in a soothing environment.
• Overnight spaces provide you and your partner privacy and comfort for a more restful stay at the hospital.

The Sacred Hour

The first hour after your baby is born is the perfect time to begin bonding. Skin-to-skin contact helps your baby stay warm, relax, transition, and breathe easier. This quiet time together lets you get to know your baby and promotes breastfeeding.

What to Expect During the Sacred Hour

In a typical vaginal delivery, the Sacred Hour will begin directly after birth. Your chest will be bare and baby will be placed on your tummy, naked and not wrapped. You and your baby will be covered with a blanket with baby's head out. If there is a medical reason that keeps you from immediate skin to skin, it may be started as soon as possible.

In a planned or non-emergent cesarean section you will be offered the option of having the skin to skin and bonding experience in the operating room. After a brief assessment, if both you and the baby are doing well, the baby will be placed on your chest with the assistance of a nurse. As your cesarean section concludes, your baby will be taken to the nursery but will rejoin you as soon as possible.

In both scenarios, we routinely perform delayed cord clamping for at least one minute.

Family Participation

The first hour after birth is a special time when the new baby and parents become a family. You can honor and support this by:

• Leaving mother and baby skin-to-skin (uninterrupted) until after the first breastfeeding
• Keep the room quiet and calm so baby can hear mostly the parent's voices
• Enjoy watching baby's amazing, natural, and instinctive feeding behaviors

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding provides healthy nutrients your baby needs and prevents infection. We support our new mothers in exclusive breastfeeding, from before baby is born, after birth and at home.

The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends breastfeeding for at least 6 months because of the many health benefits it provides, including:

• Nutrients more easily used by baby
• Nutrients needed for optimum brain and nervous system growth
• Eyes that work better, thanks to the fats in breastmilk
• Fewer digestive lung and ear infections
• Lower risks for many conditions, including SIDS, asthma and allergies
• Less diarrhea
• Enhanced mom and baby bonding

We encourage and support breastfeeding within the guidelines of our Baby Friendly initiative.  If breastfeeding is not right for you due to medical, religious, or other reasons, our staff is here to support you through the process as well.

Schedule a Maternity Tour

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Delivering Your Baby at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla

Expert, personal childbirth care.

Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla provides a warm, caring and secure environment for you and your newborn. At our Women’s Center (sometimes referred to as a birthing center), you can go through labor, delivery and recovery all in one room; after recovery, you and your baby will enjoy a private, comfortable postpartum room and bathroom, complete with a roll-away cot so your support person can be with you throughout your stay.

Learn more about what to expect when you are ready to deliver your baby .

Scripps La Jolla Maternal and Child Health

Women's center features and highlights.

We’re committed to providing the highest quality care through labor, delivery and your postpartum stay. Our expert, multi-disciplinary staff and comprehensive services include:

• Specially trained physicians and nurses
• Certified nurse-midwives
• Lactation consultants and breastfeeding support
• Certified childbirth educators
• Neonatal intensive care (NICU) managed by Rady Children’s Hospital
• Home health experts
• Registered dietitians
• Social workers
• Respiratory care practitioners

After-hours access

Open 24 hours a day. In the daytime (5 am - 9 pm), enter through Women’s Center entrance. Go to Labor and Delivery on 2nd floor. At night, entrance will be locked. Use the keypad on the concrete pillar outside to call Labor and Delivery.

Parking is available in the underground parking structure. Parking fees may apply. 

Maternity pre-admission information

The maternity pre-admission information packet will make your arrival for your delivery easier. Download the form (PDF, 280 KB) and fill it out. Mail the form back before your due date.

Lactation support

Scripps La Jolla carries breast pumps for rent or sale at our Mother’s Boutique breastfeeding store. Payment is due at the time of purchase or rental. The purchase of a breast pump may or may not be included with your health care coverage.

Please check with your insurance company for details regarding breast pump coverage , where to purchase a breast pump, and the type of breast pump approved.

Our breastfeeding store is located in the lobby of the Women’s Center. The store is open Monday - Friday 9 am - 3 pm, Saturday 9 am - 1 pm. For more information call 858-626-4538 .

During flu season, visitation restrictions apply.

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Pre-registration is required for all tours.   To register, simply click here to go to our Eventbrite page ..

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Virtual Maternity Tour

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Having a baby is a very special time and our mother-baby care team is dedicated to meeting your needs. Our specialized care, compassionate clinicians and comprehensive services are designed to make your birth experience the best possible.

As your due date approaches, we recommend you familiarize yourself with the location and specifics of your upcoming birth experience. While in-person tours are not available at our Mountain View location at this time, we encourage you to register and attend our virtual Maternity Tour . Here we will provide a detailed slide presentation led by our Labor & Delivery nurses on what to expect from admission to discharge. This is a one (1) hour free virtual class, offering interactive chat and live Q&A. If you have already decided to deliver at the Women's Hospital at El Camino Health, it is strongly recommended that you register for our virtual Maternity Tour . Both in-person and free (1) hour virtual tours are available for our Los Gatos location.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at [email protected]

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Money-making L.A. hospitals quit delivering babies. Inside the fight to keep one labor ward open.

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Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital is losing money, but it’s committed to keeping open its labor ward. Its decision runs counter to nearby hospitals that are walking away from maternity services.

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Detranay Blankenship was 16 weeks pregnant when she found out she was expecting. The days passed quickly, and soon she was 7 centimeters dilated at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital.

The 26-year-old first-time mom wasn’t sure what to expect during labor, but the team at MLK’s maternity ward soon felt like family. Every hour midwife Angela Sojobi bustled in to check on her progress and offer cheerful words of encouragement. When it was time to push, a nurse lowered the lights and flipped on the soothing sound of rain.

After 14 hours of labor, baby Myla made her appearance in the world. “That’s my grandbaby!” Latrina Jackson, Blankenship’s mother, shouted. The family’s cheers rang down the hall.

Blankenship lives just blocks away from MLK, where her labor was cozy and personalized. It was the kind of birth that many parents-to-be hope for, but a decade of widespread cutbacks to maternity care in California has made it almost a luxury. It’s available only because MLK’s leaders are fighting to keep maternity services despite steep financial losses.

Over the last decade, nearly 50 maternity wards have closed across California, with more than half shutting down in just the last four years. Seventeen of them were in Los Angeles County, where maternity ward closures have far outpaced the region’s declining birth rate.

Driving the trend in L.A. are for-profit hospitals owned by multi-state corporations. For-profit companies owned 13 of the 17 hospitals that stopped delivering babies. State data shows more than half closed at a time when the hospital was making millions of dollars for investors. Those who lost the most access were the state’s poorest patients. One hospital that serves predominantly low-income patients was earning 13 times more than the median hospital operating margin in California when it shuttered its labor and delivery ward.

In contrast, government-run and nonprofit hospitals tend to maintain labor and delivery units even if they are losing money overall, according to state data on hospital finances. State law requires nonprofit hospitals such as MLK to address community needs as part of maintaining their tax-exempt status.

Hospitals raking in profits often do so despite losing money on maternity care — the service has long been deemed a money-loser. That’s in part because Medi-Cal , California’s public insurance program which covers half of all births statewide, has had the fifth lowest reimbursement rate for obstetrics in the country, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation . Private insurance pays roughly five times more for an uncomplicated vaginal delivery. Simply put, when for-profit hospitals look at the bottom line and choose to make cuts, one of the first services to disappear is usually maternity care. No law prevents them from doing so.

In the L.A. area, these decisions disproportionately affect low-income Black and Latino communities, a CalMatters analysis found. The closures in L.A. overwhelmingly took place in hospitals where up to 80% of patients had Medi-Cal. These populations have some of the worst pregnancy-related complications and mortality outcomes in the state.

“Marginalized patients, women particularly … have really observed the decline in their care even in a place like California,” said Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, division chief for obstetrics and gynecology at Keck Medicine of USC and Los Angeles General Medical Center. 

This is because the state has failed to prioritize women’s health for decades, increasing Medi-Cal obstetrics rates only recently, Al-Marayati said. Hospitals with high numbers of Medi-Cal patients frequently can’t break even on labor and delivery. As a result, maternity care takes a backseat to more lucrative hospital services, leading to the wave of recent closures.

Residents in southern L.A. have been among the hardest hit. In the last few years they’ve lost two maternity wards: Centinela Hospital Medical Center and Memorial Hospital of Gardena Medical Center. Both hospitals are owned by for-profit corporations and happen to serve the highest proportion of Black Californians in the state.

Their closures mean that MLK now operates one of the last maternity wards in the area. The hospital gives patients access to a midwife-led program celebrated statewide for its healthy outcomes for both mom and baby.

It, too, is at risk.

Last year the hospital ran a $42 million deficit . A recent $20 million grant from Los Angeles County will keep it open until next summer, MLK’s chief executive Dr. Elaine Batchlor said, but it won’t fix the hospital’s primary funding problem: Medi-Cal doesn’t pay hospitals and doctors enough to keep up, she said.

Medi-Cal reimburses MLK about 71% of the cost of delivery, hospital spokesperson Gwendolyn Driscoll said. The hospital loses more than $2 million annually on its maternity ward. Despite the losses, Batchlor said the maternity ward is integral to the hospital’s mission.

“We serve a vulnerable community that has few other options,” Batchlor said. “The financial distress of our hospital threatens that mission, but we will continue to provide the care that we can as long as we’re able.”

California maternity wards closures outpace U.S. trend

Across the country, communities are scrambling to save maternity care . About 3% of U.S. hospitals, mostly in rural areas, have stopped delivering babies since 2011, according to a report by health consulting firm Chartis . California has lost an even greater share: More than 14% of the state’s 337 hospitals ended maternity services during the same period.

Some state lawmakers are trying to slow the loss of services. They’ve characterized what is happening in L.A. as “modern-day redlining” in recent legislative hearings.

“If you start looking at where these are being eliminated, I do think the local counties who are familiar with the communities are going to question why the decisions seem to be made around hospitals that are overrepresented of…people of color,” Sen. Dave Cortese, a Democrat from Campbell , told CalMatters. 

Hospitals administrators say the state could make a difference by significantly increasing how much Medi-Cal pays for births to incentivize hospitals to keep these services open. 

Last year lawmakers approved a rate increase that went into effect in January, bringing up pay for some obstetric services, but the state’s multibillion-dollar deficit makes further raises unlikely. Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed canceling additional increases to address the budget gap, something that lawmakers have rejected in a counter proposal .

“I’m not sure how many more conversations we need to have about some of the crises that we have within our health care space,” Assemblymember Akilah Weber, a Democrat and an obstetrician from La Mesa said during a recent budget hearing on Medi-Cal rates . Weber said Medi-Cal rates are “embarrassingly low in the state of California.”

The California Department of Public Health in an emailed statement said it is aware of hospitals that have chosen to reduce or eliminate labor and delivery beds, but that in the last three years the total number of beds across the state has slightly increased.  “CDPH is exploring any potential avenues within its authority to promote retention or further increases of these beds, in the interest of making sure maternal care across California remains protected.”

Learn more about legislators mentioned in this story.

Dave Cortese

Democrat, State Senate, District 15 (Campbell)

Akilah Weber

Democrat, State Assembly, District 79 (La Mesa)

Some experts say it will take federal intervention to slow closures. On top of increasing reimbursement rates, they’ve also suggested putting policies in place that would make it harder for hospitals to close maternity services in already underserved communities.

For now, Cortese is carrying a bill to improve transparency and public notification when a hospital decides to close a maternity ward. Private hospitals aren’t currently required to disclose the reasons for eliminating services, he said. Another bill by Weber would require hospitals to notify the state a year in advance if a maternity ward is at risk of closure due to staffing or financial limitations.

Cortese and Weber say their measures would give the state and local governments information needed to intervene if there are potentially unnecessary closures. 

They won’t, however, bring back services that have already been lost in communities like Blankenship’s. 

Next to her delivery room, a young couple also covered by Medi-Cal rests while their newborn son sleeps in a bassinet. The mother didn’t think she would be able to deliver vaginally after a previous cesarean section, but MLK gave her the chance that other hospitals wouldn’t. At the end of the hall, a homeless woman living in a nearby shelter labors with a midwife by her side.

“If this community lost the services, I don’t know where these women would go,” midwife Sojobi said minutes after catching Blankenship’s daughter.

The insurance divide

More than 90% of the patients who go to MLK are covered by public insurance programs like Medi-Cal or Medicare. In contrast, most hospitals that still operate maternity wards rely heavily on private insurance. Patients with private insurance represent only 3% of MLK’s patient population. 

Thirteen of the 17 maternity ward closures in L.A. County happened at hospitals that serve what the state calls a disproportionate share of low-income patients . Six of those closures happened in areas where shortages of medical providers make it difficult to get any type of health care, a CalMatters analysis of state and federal data shows.

Batchlor and other hospital administrators who serve mainly low-income patients say this creates a problem because public insurance reimburses far below the cost of care. The added expense of 24-hour staffing in a maternity ward makes it a loss leader for most hospitals.

Although more than 40 hospitals still deliver babies in the county, doctors say the swath of recent closures has caused care delays. The remaining maternity wards have to absorb new patients, sometimes overwhelming them, said Dr. Lisa Moore, a family medicine doctor with Venice Family Clinic, a community health center with clinics throughout the region. Since 2020, the number of babies born at L.A.’s three county-run hospitals has increased by several hundred each year, state data shows.

Medi-Cal patients often bear the brunt of delays. Appointments for pregnant Medi-Cal patients who need scheduled inductions have been increasingly postponed, and some hospitals have stopped taking all but the highest-risk Medi-Cal patients, multiple doctors interviewed for this story said. 

“People are angry, and they’re scared often because we’re telling them ‘We need to induce you. It’s not safe for you to continue being pregnant.’ But then they’re also hearing ‘Not yet. There’s no appointment,’” Moore said.

Delays worsen existing maternal and infant health disparities and increase the likelihood of a pregnant patient needing a cesarean section, Moore said.

The role of for-profit hospitals

The high costs of keeping specialized staff available 24/7 combined with relatively low payment and high malpractice risk make labor and delivery particularly difficult for hospitals to maintain, but experts say hospitals can usually recoup losses on other services. 

Two hospitals neighboring MLK that recently eliminated labor and delivery were high-earning for-profit facilities.

Centinela Medical Center, which is owned by national chain Prime Healthcare, averaged a 10% five-year operating margin when it stopped delivering babies in 2023. In contrast, the median five-year average operating margin for all California hospitals was 2%, according to a CalMatters analysis of hospital financial records. Prime Healthcare and its foundation have closed five maternity wards statewide since 2013, the most of any health system in California.

Elizabeth Nikels, a spokesperson for Prime Healthcare, denied that profitability or staffing shortages had anything to do with maternity ward closures at Centinela or its other four hospitals. She instead pointed to declining demand and low birth rates. 

Like Centinela, many hospitals cite decreasing birth rates as a reason for eliminating labor and delivery. California’s birth rate has reached record lows and L.A. County is not immune to the trend, but maternity wards are closing faster than birth rate declines.

In 2023, 7,700 fewer babies were born in L.A. County compared to 2020. Maternity wards closed at a faster pace than that decline, forcing remaining hospitals to absorb about 3,800 additional births over three years, according to a CalMatters analysis of hospital utilization records.

“Prime Healthcare’s priority is always community need and patient care. Service line decisions are based on greatest benefit to patients with financial sustainability not a determining factor,” Nikels said in an email.

Centinela consolidated services with St. Francis Medical Center, also a Prime hospital located 10 miles away that delivers almost four times as many babies. In 2022, 732 babies were born at Centinela, state records show, roughly two per day. Another 2,762 were born at St. Francis that same year. Centinela’s consolidation with St. Francis gives patients access to “high quality care with expansive services,” Nikels said.

Despite high Black maternal death rate, California hospitals ignored training about bias in care

The other hospital near MLK that stopped delivering babies is Memorial Hospital of Gardena. Owner Pipeline Health System, another national chain, closed Memorial’s maternity ward in 2020. The hospital posted an average annual profit margin of 16% over the five years preceding its closing of labor and delivery services, state records show.

Pipeline owns four hospitals in L.A. County. Only one offers labor and delivery services. Jane Brust, a spokesperson for Pipeline Health System, said it would be “cost prohibitive” for Pipeline to implement obstetrics at its other three hospitals.

Meanwhile, nonprofit hospitals can also be part of large, well-funded systems, such as Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health, but by law are required to assess the needs of their community and invest in those needs in exchange for their tax-exempt status. The attorney general holds additional regulatory power over nonprofit hospital acquisitions. This is not the case for transactions between for-profit systems.

“These aren’t public entities. They make the decisions in their boardroom, and nobody really knows what the basis was,” said Sen. Cortese.

That means for-profit systems tend to have more leeway in prioritizing the bottom line.

“In order to make money, you have to increase your revenue or decrease your expenses,” said Ge Bai, professor of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins University. “To decrease expenses is to cut off those unprofitable services.”

What do L.A. parents-to-be want

Other experts say policymakers need to look beyond money.

“The bigger public policy question is, should hospital-based (obstetrics) be part of a set of services we feel everyone in California needs access to and should be a certain geographic distance from,” said Kristof Stremikis, director of markets and insights at the California Health Care Foundation. 

For communities in the neighborhoods surrounding MLK, Centinela and Gardena, that’s an easy answer, said Gabrielle Brown, maternal and infant health program coordinator with Black Women for Wellness. 

After Centinela ended its maternity program , Black Women for Wellness canvassed households within 10 miles of the hospital and held a community town hall to assess the impact. The verdict: Residents of Inglewood, a majority Black and Latino city, felt abandoned, Brown said. 

The community was also reeling from the death of April Valentine , a young Black woman who died during childbirth at Centinela nine months before the hospital stopped labor and delivery care. Last year, state regulators fined Centinela $75,000 for lapses in care that led to the death. The hospital has previously denied allegations of improper care and racial bias. 

“Instead of improving the services that they offer, they decided to remove them,” Brown said. 

Prime spokesperson Nikels said Valentine’s death was not a factor in Centinela’s maternity ward closure.

If MLK were to close, patients including Blankenship and her daughter Myla would have to travel farther for delivery and postpartum services—barriers that often affect whether a pregnant patient sees a provider at all. In urban areas, the next hospital could be a few miles down the highway, but L.A.’s notorious traffic easily makes travel time untenable. They’d also lose the rare access to a midwife. 

Patients and providers at MLK are acutely aware of how dangerous those barriers can be. A whiteboard in Blankenship’s room listedher birthing goals, the words “Safe Delivery” handwritten in bold. Frequently, laboring Black mothers arrive at the hospital terrified of what might happen having heard horror stories, midwife Sojobi said. Many never saw a doctor during their pregnancy.

“They look at me and go, ‘Please don’t let me die,’” Sojobi said.

Next year, MLK is adding another midwife to its maternity team. A quarter of its financial loss comes from midwife salaries because Medi-Cal will not reimburse a midwife and an obstetrician working simultaneously, which is how MLK’s team works. The hospital will absorb the additional loss because midwives improve outcomes for communities of color, MLK executive Batchlor said.

For her, the decision to keep labor and delivery open no matter the cost comes down to believing patients deserve it.

“I think it’s leadership, and I think it’s values. I do,” Batchlor said.

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

more on maternity care

Vast stretches of California lose maternity care as dozens of hospitals shut labor wards

She opened a business to deliver babies. California policies drove her out of the country

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Savvino-storozhevsky monastery and museum.

Zvenigorod's most famous sight is the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, which was founded in 1398 by the monk Savva from the Troitse-Sergieva Lavra, at the invitation and with the support of Prince Yury Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod. Savva was later canonised as St Sabbas (Savva) of Storozhev. The monastery late flourished under the reign of Tsar Alexis, who chose the monastery as his family church and often went on pilgrimage there and made lots of donations to it. Most of the monastery’s buildings date from this time. The monastery is heavily fortified with thick walls and six towers, the most impressive of which is the Krasny Tower which also serves as the eastern entrance. The monastery was closed in 1918 and only reopened in 1995. In 1998 Patriarch Alexius II took part in a service to return the relics of St Sabbas to the monastery. Today the monastery has the status of a stauropegic monastery, which is second in status to a lavra. In addition to being a working monastery, it also holds the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum.

Belfry and Neighbouring Churches

Located near the main entrance is the monastery's belfry which is perhaps the calling card of the monastery due to its uniqueness. It was built in the 1650s and the St Sergius of Radonezh’s Church was opened on the middle tier in the mid-17th century, although it was originally dedicated to the Trinity. The belfry's 35-tonne Great Bladgovestny Bell fell in 1941 and was only restored and returned in 2003. Attached to the belfry is a large refectory and the Transfiguration Church, both of which were built on the orders of Tsar Alexis in the 1650s.  

To the left of the belfry is another, smaller, refectory which is attached to the Trinity Gate-Church, which was also constructed in the 1650s on the orders of Tsar Alexis who made it his own family church. The church is elaborately decorated with colourful trims and underneath the archway is a beautiful 19th century fresco.

Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is the oldest building in the monastery and among the oldest buildings in the Moscow Region. It was built between 1404 and 1405 during the lifetime of St Sabbas and using the funds of Prince Yury of Zvenigorod. The white-stone cathedral is a standard four-pillar design with a single golden dome. After the death of St Sabbas he was interred in the cathedral and a new altar dedicated to him was added.

Under the reign of Tsar Alexis the cathedral was decorated with frescoes by Stepan Ryazanets, some of which remain today. Tsar Alexis also presented the cathedral with a five-tier iconostasis, the top row of icons have been preserved.

Tsaritsa's Chambers

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is located between the Tsaritsa's Chambers of the left and the Palace of Tsar Alexis on the right. The Tsaritsa's Chambers were built in the mid-17th century for the wife of Tsar Alexey - Tsaritsa Maria Ilinichna Miloskavskaya. The design of the building is influenced by the ancient Russian architectural style. Is prettier than the Tsar's chambers opposite, being red in colour with elaborately decorated window frames and entrance.

At present the Tsaritsa's Chambers houses the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum. Among its displays is an accurate recreation of the interior of a noble lady's chambers including furniture, decorations and a decorated tiled oven, and an exhibition on the history of Zvenigorod and the monastery.

Palace of Tsar Alexis

The Palace of Tsar Alexis was built in the 1650s and is now one of the best surviving examples of non-religious architecture of that era. It was built especially for Tsar Alexis who often visited the monastery on religious pilgrimages. Its most striking feature is its pretty row of nine chimney spouts which resemble towers.

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Money blog: Thailand wants you to move there for work on digital nomad visa

Thailand has joined the likes of Spain, Indonesia, Greece and Dubai in offering visas for travellers to stay and work. And we speak to the entrepreneur behind the UK's first net-zero whisky distillery for our Women in Business series. Leave your thoughts on anything we cover below.

Tuesday 11 June 2024 20:02, UK

• Thailand wants you to move there for work
• Another blow to hopes of interest rate cut next week
• These are the most and least affordable areas in the UK - where does yours rank?
• Asda workers stabbed, threatened with syringes and attacked with food

Essential reads

• 'Would you ask me that if I was a man?' Meet the woman behind the UK's first net-zero whisky distillery
• Basically... APR v AER - what's the difference?
• Money Problem: 'I bought a heat pump dryer that takes nine hours to dry a small load but Candy and AO say there's no fault - what can I do?'  
• How long do trailers last at each cinema chain - and when to get there
• Best of the Money blog - an archive

Ask a question or make a comment

Since the pandemic, almost 800,000 people have fallen out of employment into "economic inactivity", a catch-all definition that covers the nine million people of working age not able or looking to work.

That includes students, early retirees and stay-at-home parents and carers, but the biggest and most pernicious reason is long-term sickness, which now accounts for more than 2.5 million people, an increase of more than 400,000 since COVID, driven largely by mental health conditions.

Business correspondent  Paul Kelso  travels to Middlesbrough to hear the stories behind the numbers.

Michael is fair haired and frail, with a face that tells a story. 

Until seven years ago, his life was perhaps as he imagined it. He was married and working for a fancy food shop in his home town in North Yorkshire.

Then something happened. He is reluctant to share the full details but his marriage broke down, he lost the job, and was left with a choice: "It was to be homeless, or move to a bedsit in Middlesbrough."

Which is how we come to be speaking in the Employment Hub on Corporation Road, opposite Middlesbrough's Jobcentre.

A council-backed centre, it offers help and guidance to anyone looking to get back into work.

Young adults making the leap from education to employment; older people who want or need to earn again; and clients like Michael, who fall somewhere in between, derailed by illness or personal circumstances.

The prospect of an interest rate cut when Bank of England officials meet next week has been dealt a blow after data showed basic pay is still rising.

Wages continued to grow at 6% in the three months to April - more than double the rate of inflation, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% over the same period, up from 4.3% in the three months to March and the highest level since September 2021.

What does this mean for the Bank of England as it weighs cutting interest rates? Business reporter James Sillars has the latest...

The final set of employment figures before polling day will be monitored by the Bank before it decides on whether to cut rates - we'll get the announcement next Thursday.

The Bank has hinted an interest rate cut is likely in the coming months but it remains worried about sticky services inflation and the pace of wage growth fuelling more price rises in the economy.

There were 14 consecutive interest rate increases from December 2021 up until last summer, aimed at dampening demand to help bring price growth down.

The rate hikes drove up the cost of borrowing, with mortgage holders facing bills of hundreds of pounds more a month as low fixed-rate terms expired.

With the main consumer prices index measure of inflation running at 2.3% - above the Bank's 2% target - members of the rate-setting committee have acknowledged progress but are unlikely to follow the European Central Bank in cutting rates this month.

Even before the ONS data was released, financial markets projected just a 10% chance of a rate cut from 5.25% to 5% on 20 June.

Most of the money is on September. However, those predictions could yet shift.

The ONS is also set to publish this week the preliminary growth figures for the economy in April.

They are predicted by economists to show zero growth for the month, largely due to the impact of poor weather.

And next Wednesday, the day before the interest rate decision,  the latest inflation figures will be published - another key factor for the Bank.

BP staff will have to disclose intimate relationships under a new policy.

The rules, which put employees at risk of being sacked if contravened, have come into force after the dismissal of former boss Bernard Looney.

Previously, employees only had to disclose relationships if there was a conflict of interest risk.

So-called "Super-ATMs" are going on trial in England to provide a cash lifeline to residents without a local bank branch.

Customers with multiple banks will be able to make deposits at one machine in a UK industry first.

The ATMs are already up and running in Athersone, Warwickshire, in Heathfield, East Sussex, and in Swanage, Dorset.

Fish and chicken bought from Sainsbury's will soon come in recyclable card trays.

The supermarket believes it can slash almost 700 tonnes of plastic packaging per year on its own-brand products.

Sainsbury's says it is a "UK retailer first" decision.

Jamie Oliver has backed a proposal to ban the sale of some energy drinks to under-16s.

The celebrity chef said the UK has some of the least healthy children in Europe and people would "be amazed" how many consumed an energy drink for breakfast.

Labour has pledged to stop giving younger teenagers access to highly caffeinated soft drinks as part of a strategy to improve child mental and physical health.

"This is really exciting for me. It means they're looking at the detail, it means they're looking at the science," said Oliver, who described himself as apolitical.

"Child health hasn't been put central to any manifesto in the last 20 years, ever, ever, ever. You've never seen it on a bus with a number."

Labour's plans would apply to drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre, meaning they would prohibit beverages like Monster Energy for under-16s but not Coca-Cola.

Oliver said children were "bouncing off the walls" in classrooms and teachers were struggling to control them.

"You would be amazed if you saw how many kids have breakfast in the form of an energy drink."

Speaking on X, Mr Oliver said: "When we've got some of the most unhealthy kids in Europe, we need to not have one thing, we need many, many things that are going to help make our kids fitter, healthier, have better outcomes and just flourish and be more productive as adults, and cost the NHS less."

Asda staff have been stabbed, punched and threatened with syringes by customers, according to new research.

One in three employees have been attacked at work, according to a GMB union survey of 1,000 members.

Delivery drivers said they have been chased by people in cars and confronted by customers in the nude.

Store workers have had watermelons and joints of gammon thrown at them.

Some three in five respondents said they had suffered injury or illness at work.

"These incidents are horrifying – no one should have [to] suffer this kind of abuse and violence at work," said Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer.

"This situation is only going to get worse as staff hours are slashed, leaving less people in store and those who are there more vulnerable."

An Asda spokesperson said all retailers had had an increase in violence and aggression towards staff in recent years. 

"The safety of our colleagues is a primary concern," they said, adding the company had invested more than £30m over the past three years to upgrade store CCTV systems.

Employees have been provided with body-worn cameras, extra security guards have been hired and opening times amended in certain shops, they said. 

"We work with all of our colleague representatives in the important area of colleague security and also back calls for violence or abuse against retail workers to be made a standalone criminal offence in all parts of the UK and hope this is a priority for any incoming government."

Do you work at Asda or another supermarket? Have you had similar experiences? Share your stories with us in the comment box above.

Like the idea of jetting off to live in Thailand?

Remote workers will now be able to stay in the country for up to five years on a digital nomad visa.

The destination Thailand visa, nicknamed the "digital nomad visa", allows foreigners to stay and work in Thailand for extended periods without worrying about immigration or tax.

Those with the multiple-entry visa are given the right to stay for 180 days a year, with an option to extend for another 180 days, for up to five years for the cost of 10,000 baht (£213.75).

While the initial fee is £213.75, workers need to leave and re-enter the country every 180 days and pay an additional £212.20 each time.

Full details on how to apply are still pending, but some information on the requirements have been released.

To apply for the visa, you must: 

• Be at least 20;
• Have enough money to pay for the visa;
• Prove you have at least £10,687 in your bank account;
• Provide proof of employment with a registered company.

Until now, digital nomads could only stay in Thailand on tourist visas for up to 60 days but it is hoped the new visa will support the government's efforts to increase tourism.

The world's your oyster...

Thailand joins a growing list of countries offering digital nomad visas or similar. Here are some of the others:

• Spain - The remote work visa gives non-EU nationals the chance to live and work in Spain for up to five years;
• Portugal - Visa length is up to five years;
• Italy - Introduced in 2022, it gives workers the chance to stay in the country for one year with the possibility to extend;
• Croatia - Temporary stay is granted for up to a year;
• Greece - The digital nomad visa gives you legal residence as a remote worker for up to a year, after which you can apply for a residence permit which allows you to stay longer;
• Estonia - Right for remote workers to temporarily stay in Estonia for up to one year;
• Montenegro - The digital nomad visa is a temporal permit for non-EU remote workers employed in a foreign company outside Montenegro. Nomads can stay for up to two years in the country;
• Malaysia - The DE Rantau Nomad Pass allows foreigners to stay in Malaysia for up to 12 months in the first instance, with the option to renew for another 12 months, allowing 24 months of stay in total;
• Indonesia - The visa allows for up to 180 days of stay but this may be extended further;
• Costa Rica - The nomad scheme allows international residents to work remotely for up to a year, with the option to renew for an additional year;
• Dubai - The remote working visa scheme is valid for one year.

By James Sillars , business reporter

It's a positive start to the day for shares in London.

The FTSE 100 opened 0.4% higher at 8,265 after declines in the previous session that saw bank stocks under particular pressure.

Markets globally were reacting to renewed fears that interest rate cuts in the United States remained some way off and the results of the elections for the European Parliament.

They showed a big rise in far-right groups and even prompted France to call a snap parliamentary election.

Raspberry Pi made its London stock market debut this morning.

The personal computer maker saw its shares climb more than 30% at the open.

More widely, the cost of oil has been on the march again.

A barrel of Brent crude will set you back $81.

The price rose 3% yesterday on forecasts of strong demand during America's peak vacation (that's summer holiday) season.

Analysts, however, see that higher level being short-lived due to concerns about US interest rates being higher for longer.

The prospect of a pre-election interest rate cut by the Bank of England has been damaged by official figures showing no progress in bringing down the pace of wage growth.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed basic pay rising at an annual rate of 6% in the three months to April.

That was flat on the figure reported by the ONS a month ago.

The measure that includes bonuses actually rose to 5.9% from 5.7%.

While it leaves pay growth at way more than double the 2.3% inflation rate, it will not help persuade the Bank of England that the time is right for an interest rate cut when it reveals its latest decision on 20 June.

Just 18% of companies in the UK are led by women, and while data suggests female entrepreneurs are on the rise, men still receive more funding and are entrusted with higher average loans to get them started.

In a new series every Tuesday, Money blog reporter Jess Sharp speaks to women who are bossing it in their respective fields - hearing their stories, struggles and advice for those who want to follow in their footsteps. 

This week, she has spoken to Annabel Thomas, the founder of Nc'nean whisky distillery...

Annabel left her job as a strategy consultant in London more than a decade ago to pursue her ambition to change the way the world thought about whisky. 

With women and sustainability at the forefront of her mind, she has gone on to create the UK's first net-zero whiskey distillery - and has hired a female-led team to do it.

It took four years of hard graft, fundraising and actually building to create the Nc'nean distillery in the Highlands, and then another three years to produce its first bottle. 

'Everyone thought I was mad' 

She was first inspired by her parent's farm and dreamed of turning one of its old buildings into a distillery.

After touring lots of distilleries, she realised the industry was still very traditional and no one was talking about sustainability.

"No one seemed to be thinking very creatively about the spirit," Annabel, 41, says. 

"I just thought that there was a need for that and consumers were going to increasingly demand sustainable products, which they now are. Though, at the time, everyone thought I was mad." 

'I didn't have a time machine' - the long process to get started

After deciding to take the plunge, the mother-of-two says it was a "long, slow process" to get the business off the ground, especially juggling the financial needs of her family and childcare. 

In fact, she initially took a sabbatical from her job to get started and then went back and started working on Nc'nean at the weekend to make sure she was drawing a wage from somewhere.

Eventually, her business became a full-time job and she managed to launch a seed funding round to really get things going. 

"The thing about a distillery that is different to many other projects is that you have to raise an enormous amount of money upfront," she says. 

"You can't make something in your kitchen and try to sell it. We spent £5m building a distillery before we produced a drop of liquid - so it's quite a different profile to many other startups," she added. 

Getting the funding was "pretty tough", she says, explaining it's hard to raise money when you don't have a product to show for it. 

"You can't even say this is what the whisky's going to taste like, because I didn't have a time machine."

'You would never ask me that if I was a man'

It took Annabel two years to raise the funds she needed, and she wonders if it would have taken as long if she were a man. 

"Maybe it would have only taken me a year if I was a man, but you never know," she says. 

Initially, she says, she didn't think about the challenges she might have to overcome in such a male-dominated field, but it quickly became obvious. 

"It didn't really occur to me until people kept asking, me, basically every single day, if I actually liked whisky," she explains.

"I thought, 'You would never ask me about that if I was a man - just because I'm a woman, you assume I don't like it.'" 

Making it sustainable

Sustainability was one of Annabel's key drivers when she embarked on her entrepreneurial journey and her distillery is powered solely by renewable energy. 

She was the first to create a distillery that has been verified as having net-zero carbon emissions from its own operations, and also the first to use a 100% recycled clear glass bottle. 

"It doesn't sound like a big deal," she says modestly. "But actually 100% recycled glass saves 40% of the carbon emissions versus what within the industry would be called fake glass, which is largely like new materials." 

When you look at a Nc'nean bottle, it has a kind of green tinge and a few bubbles in it. 

The "big guys" would consider them imperfect, Annabel says, but she has decided to "embrace the imperfections". 

"If it saves 40% of the carbon emissions, then we think that's the right thing to do," she says. 

Nc'nean also replants everything it harvests, only uses 100% organic Scottish barley (the main ingredient in whisky) and feeds the leftover grain to the cows that live on the farm. 

The challenges

Away from the struggles with fundraising, Annabel says childcare is one of the biggest challenges she has had to overcome. 

With her setting up the company and her husband a lawyer, she says full-time childcare was the only option, but it was far too expensive. 

"I don't think as a country we have the right support system," she says. "It's not economic for me to work. If I was running the country, things would look very different."

The issue also means getting the work-life balance can be hard, and she always feels like she's "not spending enough time with the family, and too much time on work". 

"I think at least I have some control over my own diary now, which is really helpful," she adds. 

Annabel's advice

Use your differences to your advantage - that's Annabel's top tip. 

She urges women not to be "put off" by jumping into a male-dominated field, saying the key is to create something different. 

Being a woman in such an industry was actually an "advantage", she says.

"You will find that you think differently to everyone else and that can only be a good thing for creating something different, which is ultimately important because you need to find your niche."

Within the whisky world, work is already ongoing to encourage women to join and she hopes that's the same in other industries as well.

Practically, she says, seeking out support groups is "definitely worth it" and surrounding yourself with people who know more than you do is helpful. 

"None of our distillers have ever worked in whisky before and I like that because it brings a different perspective," she says. 

Read more from this series below...

British house hunters should look at buying Scotland if they want to get the most for their money, according to new research.

A study by Hopkins Homes, a real estate and zero energy bill expert, found Scotland prominently featured among the most affordable areas, while perhaps unsurprisingly, London dominated the least affordable category.

The research assessed the affordability of 325 areas in Britain by looking at average house prices, the rate of price increase, the ratio of the average couple's earnings to house prices and average council tax costs, to give a final "affordability" score.

The higher the score, the more affordable the area.

Angus in eastern Scotland has come out top for affordability in Britain, according to the research. 

There, prospective buyers are looking at an average house price of £164,076, while the price-to-earnings ratio sits at 2.31. According to Hopkins Homes, it has an "affordability score" of 85.

It was followed by West Dunbartonshire, also in Scotland, with a score of 84.1, and Aberdeenshire with 83.2.

At the other end of the scale, the swanky London borough of Kensington and Chelsea came out as the least affordable area to buy a home in Britain.

With average house prices sitting at a whopping £1.2m, buying in this area is out of reach for many, with the house price-to-couple's earnings ratio sitting at 16.18.

The affordability score for Kensington and Chelsea is just 40 - the lowest in Britain - and is followed by London's City of Westminster at 53 and Elmbridge in Surrey with 57.3.

The Hopkins Homes report says Britain's housing affordability landscape in 2024 "presents a diverse picture, with significant variations across different regions".

"When making house buying decisions, the analysis highlights the importance of considering factors beyond just house prices, such as income levels, council taxes, and overall quality of life," it said.

"Overall, the data underscores the importance of careful consideration and planning when navigating the UK housing market."

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ELECTROSTAL HISTORY AND ART MUSEUM (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

Tennis Briefing: French Open highlights and grass-court season preview

Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic  will explain the stories from the past week on-court.

This week, the French Open in Paris drew to a close, with the second Grand Slam of the season playing out at Roland Garros. Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz   won the singles titles, in a fortnight of five-setters, Hawk-Eye drama, raucous crowds and much, much more.

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For a special edition of the Tennis Briefing, the writers at  The Athletic look back on the tournament, and ahead to the coming of grass-court season.

If you’d like to follow our fantastic tennis coverage, click here .

How many kinds of five-set thriller are there?

The 2024 French Open was a tournament for the five-set advocates and the sceptics.

There was high drama in Carlos Alcaraz’s semi-final win over Jannik Sinner and his Sunday defeat of Alexander Zverev in the final , both of which went to five sets, and both of which were electric, jittery, at times uncomfortable matches, as that drama appeared to take over. Novak Djokovic’s gruelling, and ultimately hugely damaging, win over Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round was less than sparkling on the quality index; ditto Zverev edging past Tallon Griekspoor in the third round.

The crucial and final moments were made even more dramatic by the spells when those matches were simmering, and the five-set format retains a uniqueness of tension and endurance that a three-set match arguably can’t. Sceptics would say that some of those matches were long on time and low on quality. Both things are true; it’s possible for there to be bad, indifferent and brilliant five-set matches.

We saw all of the above at this French Open, including genuine thrillers like the late-night barnstormer on court 14 when Holger Rune edged past Flavio Cobolli in a final-set tiebreak, Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti ’s latest-ever finish at Roland Garros, and Dusan Lajovic and Roman Safiullin’s epic in the early rounds.

What's the one thing you would change about tennis?

Is Coco Gauff a multiple Grand Slam doubles champion in waiting?

It wasn’t the title Coco Gauff came to Paris for, but it was one she really wanted.

Gauff didn’t even think she was going to be playing doubles here, because her usual partner at Grand Slams, Jessica Pegula, is still recovering from an injury. Then another American, Taylor Townsend got injured. That left Katerina Siniakova — who, along with Gauff, is one of the world’s top doubles players — without a partner.

Townsend gave Gauff’s phone number to Siniakova. There was a text, and two days before the tournament began, the French Open had a very formidable new doubles team: an elite singles player and an elite doubles one, with plenty of experience in the biggest events: Siniakova was a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion even before this tournament, Gauff a two-time Grand Slam doubles semi-finalist.

The results were both surprising and predictable. Gauff and Siniakova basically winged their way to the title, like two great jazz musicians playing a series of gigs together after little to no practice, ending with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win over Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani in the final .

It wasn’t flawless.

Siniakova pegged Gauff in the back of the head in one match. Sometimes they didn’t know which direction the other one was heading in. Giggling apologies between points were not infrequent. Talent is talent though, and Gauff’s 125mph serves also helped plenty.

When it was over, Gauff said there was a larger lesson to cull from the experience. “I think it’s just one of those things that when you least expect it to happen, it happens,” she said.

“Same thing (with the) U.S. Open, when I won it (last September). I didn’t expect to win. I was having a really bad year. Then here, I didn’t even expect to play (doubles).”

Why Coco Gauff is so tough to face - told by those who have

Can the wisdom of crowds prevail?

It already feels like it was about 10 years ago, but the first week of this French Open was dominated by stories of bad crowd behaviour. Raucous fans were making life hard for some of the players, and David Goffin reported he had been spat at by a supporter when the atmosphere was particularly feverish during his first-round win over home favourite Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo announced a site-wide ban on drinking in the stands a couple of days later, in what straight away felt like a heavy-handed response.

In her tournament review on Sunday, Maursemo accepted organisers may have jumped the gun, while also rejecting the idea that the ban contributed to the numerous empty seats seen on the main courts at Roland Garros.

“Honestly, in my opinion, the alcohol, maybe it wasn’t necessary, and I don’t think it was the reason why the stadium at some point was empty,” she said.

The lesson here is that tennis needs to take a step back and not try to stamp out all behaviour it finds a little too much. Something like the Goffin incident clearly oversteps the mark, but having passionate, engaged fans is hardly a bad thing.

There are plenty of tennis players who would love to have this kind of raucousness more often, with many tour events grappling with empty seats and a lack of atmosphere that is, in a wider sense, a far bigger problem for the sport.

The wisdom of crowds: Tricolores, trumpets, and truculence at Roland Garros

What will it take for the French Open to accept Hawk-Eye?

Apparently, the people who run the French Open needed yet another reminder:

High-speed cameras and the computer technology that allows them to make line calls with the tiniest margin for error are better than the human eye — and better for humans.

Little has moved the needle so far, but costing a finalist a Grand Slam title may make the FFT (France’s tennis federation, which organizes the French Open) reconsider staying loyal to umpires coming down from their chair to inspect ball marks on the red clay to estimate whether the edge of a tiny ball nicked or missed a painted line, with millions of dollars riding on the decision.

Last year, Wimbledon’s obstinance may very well have cost home favourite Andy Murray a chance to win his match against Stefanos Tsitsipas. But that was in the second round.

On Sunday, in the fifth set of the men’s final , a similarly mistaken line call prevented Alexander Zverev from breaking Carlos Alcaraz’s serve and knotting the set at two games each. Everyone watching on television or with access to social media knew very quickly that Alcaraz double-faulted and that chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein should not have overruled the original line judge’s call.

Once again, the wider world had access to the correct information, but the people who really needed it, and should have been protected by it, did not.

“There’s a difference whether you’re down 3-1 in the fifth set or you’re back to two-all — that’s a deciding difference,” said Zverev, after he had learned that the final call had been wrong. “It’s frustrating in the end, but it is what it is. Umpires make mistakes. They’re also human, and that’s OK. But of course, in a situation like that, you wish there wouldn’t be mistakes.”

Pascal Maria, the assistant referee for the French Open, said earlier in the tournament that officials are not considering moving to fully electronic line calling, which will be ubiquitous on the ATP Tour next year.

Officials used to argue that the Hawk-Eye system was not as effective on clay because of the raised lines. Supporters of the technology say that is no longer an issue, and regardless, the computer was always better than a human anyway for this task.

The ruling against Zverev fell within the error tolerance of 3mm (just under an eighth of an inch), so it may never have been called out by an electronic system — but there would have been no person being asked to track a minuscule distance at high speed under severe pressure. Tennis needs to save its officials, and itself, from the vitriol that comes with mistakes.

Welcome to 'Ump-Head': The tiny camera thrilling fans and embarrassing players in Paris

Can Iga Swiatek emulate Rafael Nadal in yet another way?

Iga Swiatek has long idolised Rafael Nadal — and similarities between the two have become increasingly hard to ignore.

So here’s another one: it was after Nadal’s fourth Roland Garros title that he won his first Wimbledon, in 2008. So could this be the year, after Swiatek’s fourth French Open, that she too breaks her duck in south-west London?

When The Athletic  put this to Swiatek on Saturday, she responded with typical modesty.

“I think the biggest progress I can make on grass right now is using my serve that is better, but also I don’t expect a lot at Wimbledon next month),” she said.

“The balls are different. Overall, tennis is different on grass. I’ll just see and I’ll work hard to play better there.”

Swiatek also explained that she has been happy with her progress on grass, saying that she feels “like, every year, it’s easier for me to adapt to grass”.

Whether Swiatek can complete the fiendishly difficult French Open-Wimbledon double this time — as with every year she wins at Roland Garros — will be one of the key sub-plots as the surfaces switch for the early summer.

'I get better every match': How Iga Swiatek learned to be inevitable

Will the grass provide a soft landing for stars on the comeback trail?

It’s impossible to have witnessed this French Open and not feel very encouraged about the prospects for a few stars on the comeback trail from injury or, in Naomi Osaka’s case, maternity leave.

Canadians Denis Shapovalov and Bianca Andreescu both made the third round at Roland Garros on a surface neither of them particularly enjoys. Shapovalov has been working through an injured knee. Andreescu has spent eight months recovering from a stress fracture in her back.

Both are now moving on towards Wimbledon.

Shapovalov could not be more thrilled. Grass is his favorite surface, and if he can beat quality opponents on the clay, he’s someone that players and fans alike will want to circle on their draw sheets.

The same goes for Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion. She showed every bit of her competitive fire and nearly unmatched creativity in Paris, and though she’s hardly a grass court specialist, her athletic talent and experience on the surface should make her a very good watch at the All England Club.

And then there’s Osaka, the furthest thing from a clay lover, pushing Iga Swiatek, the reigning and ultimate champion, to within a point of elimination in the second round. Osaka has never been much for grass either, but if that is what she is capable of on a surface she doesn’t like, there’s no reason she can’t perform even better at Wimbledon, where the grass will give her all sorts of love that the clay does not.

Naomi Osaka, The Comeback Interview: A tale of pregnancy, fear and a ballerina

Shot of the week

This was CINEMA pic.twitter.com/s7NY23uR6c — Served with Andy Roddick (@Served_Podcast) June 9, 2024

Passing shot de esquerda a uma mão. Carlos Alcaraz. pic.twitter.com/AqM0NRPE65 — B24 (@B24PT) June 9, 2024

Recommended reading:

• ‘I get better every match’: How Iga Swiatek learned to be inevitable
• Alexander Zverev never wants to hear about his domestic-abuse case again, but tennis remains in limbo
• How Carlos Alcaraz beat his toughest opponent: His own body
• ‘I felt like no one was going to beat me’: How Chris Evert made the French Open her home

🏆  The winners of the week

🎾  ATP: 

🏆 Carlos Alcaraz def. Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 to win the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris. It is Alcaraz’s   first French Open title. 🏆 Lloyd Harris def. Leandro Riedi 7-6(8), 7-5 to win the Lexus Surbiton Trophy (Challenger 125) in Surbiton, England. It is Harris’ first ATP title.

🏆 Iga Swiatek def.  Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 to win the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris. It is her fifth Grand Slam title and third French Open in a row. 🏆 Anca Todoni def. Panna Udvardy 6-4, 6-0 to win the Puglia Open (125) in Bari, Italy. It is Todoni’s first WTA title. 🏆 Katie Volynets def. Mayar Sherif 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 to win the Makarska Open (125) in Makarska, Croatia. It is Volynets’ first WTA title.

📈📉 On the rise / Down the line

📈 Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz both move up one place, to No 1 and No 2 respectively. It is Sinner’s first time at world No 1. 📈 Coco Gauff ascends one spot from No 3 to No 2. It is her highest career ranking to date. 📈 Jasmine Paolini moves up eight positions from No 15 to No 7. It is her highest career ranking to date.

📉 Novak Djokovic falls two places from No 1 to No 3. It is his lowest ranking since the summer of 2022. 📉 Aryna Sabalenka drops one position from No 2 to No 3 after Gauff surpassed her at the French Open. 📉 Andy Murray tumbles 25 spots from No 71 to No 96.

📅 Coming up

📍Stuttgart, Germany, Boss Open (250) featuring Andy Murray, Alexander Zverev, Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton. 📍Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, Libema Open (250) featuring Alex de Minaur, Sebastian Korda, Arthur Fils and Tommy Paul.

📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV

📍Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, Libema Open (250) featuring Jessica Pegula, Naomi Osaka, Clara Tauson and Bianca Andreescu. 📍Nottingham, England, Rothesay Open (250) featuring Ons Jabeur, Emma Raducanu, Marta Kostyuk and Katie Boulter.

📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel

Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below as the men’s and women’s tours continue.

(Top photo: Glenn Gervot/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)

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