Second seed Novak Djokovic praised his understanding with new coach Boris Becker as he made a winning if scratchy start at the Australian Open on Monday.
The defending champion wore down Lukas Lacko to win his first official match under the former Grand Slam winning German Becker in straight sets.
The Serbian, bidding to win a fourth consecutive Australian title and fifth overall, had to work hard to subdue the 96th-ranked Slovak.
But after taking the second set in a tiebreaker, he swept to victory 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 in one hour 50 minutes and will face Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer in the next round.
Djokovic said while it was early into his player-coach relationship with Becker, the signs were good.
“He definitely has great observations on my game, on tennis in general,” he said.
“We do speak a lot about different things. We try to get to know each other as much as we can.
“The understanding is great in the beginning. I did not expect ourselves to understand each other so well right away in the second or third week that we working are with each other.”
With the tennis great courtside, Djokovic looked far from his best and made 30 unforced errors. But he interspersed them with some glorious stretched volleys for winners.
“I know that I haven’t played my best, especially in the second set,” Djokovic said.
“But, look, also credit to my opponent who was playing really nice tennis from the baseline.
“It came at the right time in the tiebreak in the second and the whole third set was great. My service games, most of the games were won comfortably.
“That’s something that makes me obviously very encouraged for this tournament and for every next match.”
Becker has been brought in to improve Djokovic’s game after a disappointing 2013 by his own high standards and with his regular coach, Marian Vajda, keen for more family time.
Last year Djokovic won the Australian Open but lost to Rafael Nadal in the US Open final, then again in the semi-finals of the French Open, as well as bowing to Andy Murray in the Wimbledon decider.
“We both hope to get the right benefits and the right results right away here in Australia. We worked very hard during the last four weeks,” Djokovic said.
“Hopefully we can go far in this tournament. But it’s a long year and yes this tournament right now is our priority and our focus.
“Then we hope to maintain that consistency with a success and good cooperation throughout the whole year.”
Djokovic lost his service but broke the Slovak twice to take the opening set in 30 minutes, even though his backhand misfired as he made seven errors on that flank.
Lacko fought hard in the second set and conceded his first break point in the ninth game before the set went to a tiebreaker.
But Djokovic comfortably wrapped up the tiebreaker 7/2 to go two sets up and skated through the final set in just 23 minutes as Lacko’s level dropped and the six-time Grand Slam champion stepped up a gear.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
Klopp at the Kop
Matches 68; Wins 35; Draws 19; Losses 14; Goals For 133; Goals Against 82
- Eighth place in Premier League in 2015/16
- Runners-up in Europa League in 2016
- Runners-up in League Cup in 2016
- Fourth place in Premier League in 2016/17
The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
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Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
TEST SQUADS
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8
Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 685Nm at 2,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Price: from Dh850,000
On sale: now
Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last 16, second leg
Liverpool (0) v Atletico Madrid (1)
Venue: Anfield
Kick-off: Thursday, March 12, midnight
Live: On beIN Sports HD
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More from our Neighbourhood series:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
If you go
The flights
Emirates (www.emirates.com) and Etihad (www.etihad.com) both fly direct to Bengaluru, with return fares from Dh 1240. From Bengaluru airport, Coorg is a five-hour drive by car.
The hotels
The Tamara (www.thetamara.com) is located inside a working coffee plantation and offers individual villas with sprawling views of the hills (tariff from Dh1,300, including taxes and breakfast).
When to go
Coorg is an all-year destination, with the peak season for travel extending from the cooler months between October and March.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
