DUBAI // In his first match since lifting a record fifth Australian Open, Novak Djokovic beat Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday night to get his hunt for a fifth title at the Dubai Tennis Championships off to a comfortable start.
The world No 1, who beat Andy Murray at Melbourne Park last month to claim his eighth grand slam title win, would clinch a 50th career title should he again lift the silver dhow trophy on Saturday evening. His coach, Boris Becker, won 49 titles during a 15-year career.
“I didn’t have any special celebration for 40th or 30th, but I think as 50th is something unique, I’ll make it count,” said Djokovic, who faces a second round tie with Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev at the Aviation Club this evening. “It’s early to talk about the title as the tournament just started, but hopefully it can happen here.”
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When informed of Becker’s career haul, the Serb laughed and said: “I know, I received that information a few days ago. That’s why I have more motivation this week.”
Pospisil, ranked 63 in the world, reached a career-high 25 last year and beat world No 5 Tomas Berdych in Washington. Last night, his aggressive, accurate serve gave Djokovic problems and took the match to 4-4 in the first set. When his slice sailed too long in the ninth game though, Djokovic smelt blood.
The 24-year-old Canadian held on initially, but when he double faulted to gift Djokovic another chance, this time Pospisil was more obliging and Djokovic took an outright lead. Serving for the set, the Serb made no mistake.
“He served well first set; I just utilised my opportunities,” Djokovic said. “His second serve, when his first-serve percentage dropped, I knew that’s my chance. I won a lot of those second-serve points. That’s what decided the match.”
Pospisil ended the first set with one ace and an 84 per cent success rate off his first serve. His second serve only produced points for him 33 per cent of the time. Djokovic, in contrast, posted 75 per cent off his first and 73 per cent off his second.
The world No 1 broke early in the second set to take a 2-1 lead, but Pospisil immediately broke back to tie things at 2-2 and, having held serve, forced Djokovic to save two break points.
As the match drew on, though, the Serbian grew in stature while Pospisil’s forehands started to find the net more often. Djokovic broke again in the seventh and closed out the match strongly.
“First match since Australian Open final, so still looking for that rhythm on the court,” he said. “But I managed to stay mentally tough and patient in rallies. My serve wasn’t at the level where I wanted it to be today, so hopefully the next match can be better.”
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Employment lawyer Meriel Schindler of Withers Worldwide shares her tips on achieving equal pay
Do your homework
Make sure that you are being offered a fair salary. There is lots of industry data available, and you can always talk to people who have come out of the organisation. Where I see people coming a cropper is where they haven’t done their homework.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate
It’s quite standard to negotiate if you think an offer is on the low side. The job is unlikely to be withdrawn if you ask for money, and if that did happen I’d question whether you want to work for an employer who is so hypersensitive.
Know your worth
Women tend to be a bit more reticent to talk about their achievements. In my experience they need to have more confidence in their own abilities – men will big up what they’ve done to get a pay rise, and to compete women need to turn up the volume.
Work together
If you suspect men in your organisation are being paid more, look your boss in the eye and say, “I want you to assure me that I’m paid equivalent to my peers”. If you’re not getting a straight answer, talk to your peer group and consider taking direct action to fix inequality.
MATCH INFO
League Cup, last 16
Manchester City v Southampton, Tuesday, 11.45pm (UAE)
Smart words at Make Smart Cool
Make Smart Cool is not your usual festival. Dubbed “edutainment” by organisers Najahi Events, Make Smart Cool aims to inspire its youthful target audience through a mix of interactive presentation by social media influencers and a concert finale featuring Example with DJ Wire. Here are some of the speakers sharing their inspiration and experiences on the night.
Prince Ea
With his social media videos accumulating more half a billion views, the American motivational speaker is hot on the college circuit in the US, with talks that focus on the many ways to generate passion and motivation when it comes to learning.
Khalid Al Ameri
The Emirati columnist and presenter is much loved by local youth, with writings and presentations about education, entrepreneurship and family balance. His lectures on career and personal development are sought after by the education and business sector.
Ben Ouattara
Born to an Ivorian father and German mother, the Dubai-based fitness instructor and motivational speaker is all about conquering fears and insecurities. His talk focuses on the need to gain emotional and physical fitness when facing life’s challenges. As well managing his film production company, Ouattara is one of the official ambassadors of Dubai Expo2020.
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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
Company profile
Name: Oulo.com
Founder: Kamal Nazha
Based: Dubai
Founded: 2020
Number of employees: 5
Sector: Technology
Funding: $450,000
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.
Wednesday's results
Finland 3-0 Armenia
Faroes Islands 1-0 Malta
Sweden 1-1 Spain
Gibraltar 2-3 Georgia
Romania 1-1 Norway
Greece 2-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Liechtenstein 0-5 Italy
Switzerland 2-0 Rep of Ireland
Israel 3-1 Latvia
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
The chef's advice
Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.
“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”
Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.
The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
