Daniil Medvedev continued his excellent start to the season with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Italian Lorenzo Sonego at the the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.
Medvedev has won four hardcourt titles this year, winning 25 of his past 26 matches, and extended his good run on a surface that he has not previously enjoyed much success on.
The Russian moved into an early 3-0 lead and was relentless from the baseline to seal an 89-minute victory.
"I always struggle on clay," said third seed Medvedev. "I've had some good matches where I still struggled. There's no rhythm on clay, every bounce is a bad bounce and even when it's good you're expecting a bad bounce.
"But I managed to play good against a very strong player."
“It’s completely different on clay, but confidence is confidence,” Medvedev added. “It’s about winning matches, because it is always two players that play, and one is going to win. I hope to bring this confidence even further.”
Alexander Zverev continued to rebuild his confidence on clay with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round.
The German 13th seed, who suffered a serious ankle injury in the French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal last year, won his second match in as many days.
Zverev broke for 3-2 in the opening set and held serve to take the lead in the contest, before breaking again in the fifth game of the second set.
Bautista Agut, however, levelled at 3-3, only for Zverev to take the decisive break in the following game.
Fourth-seeded Casper Ruud extended his winning streak on clay to nine matches to reach the third round in Monte Carlo.
The 2022 French Open runner-up was made to work hard by Botic van de Zandschulp in his opening match at the Country Club before winning 7-5, 7-6 (7-1).
Ruud has won the past two clay events he has played, in Gstaad last July and in Estoril last week.
“It is never easy to start at a new tournament and against a player I have lost to before,” said Ruud, who fell to his Dutch opponent in Miami last month. "Sometimes it is a little tricky playing someone you recently lost to, like ‘Not again’, but in this case I was a bit happy because I felt like I had some unfinished business from the Miami match.”
Ruud, who saved one set point in the second set, will next be up against Jan-Lennard Struff, who defeated 14th-seeded Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-2.
After struggling for consistency at the start of the year, Ruud has found his confidence back on his favoured surface.
"It felt great last week in Estoril,” he said. “It felt very comfortable. Today was at times a very good match, but at times a little rusty. There are a lot of positives to build on.”
Karen Khachanov also went through with a 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 win over Ilya Ivashka while eighth seed Taylor Fritz overcame Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (12-10), 6-2.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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.”
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Gothia Cup 2025
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76 nations
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15 Lebanese teams
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