Tsvetana Pironkova is confident she can handle the attention garnered by her shock Wimbledon triumph over Venus Williams despite struggling to cope with the same pressure four years ago.
The unseeded Bulgarian's quarter-final victory over the five-time champion was her second grand slam success against Williams and she will meet Vera Zvonareva, the Russia 21st seed, today for a place in Saturday's final.
As a teenager, Pironkova secured a 2-6, 6-0, 9-7 victory over the American in the 2006 Australian Open before losing in straight sets to Laura Granville in the second round.
But now aged 22, she feels prepared for the high profile of her semi-final against Zvonareva.
"I can say that I'm ready," Pironkova said. "I beat Williams once before, at the Australian Open. There was so much attention then, I was shocked. The next match, I just couldn't focus because of all the attention. Right now, I think I've learned my lesson. I'll just try to focus."
Pironkova appears to have the ability to gain from adversity after recovering from a poor 2009, when she suffered 13 first-round defeats.
The run took her down to 100th in the world from a career-high ranking of 40th, and her form was not a great deal better in the lead up to Wimbledon, when she fell in the Eastbourne qualifiers.
Pironkova, now ranked 82 in the world, said: "I've been through a lot last year. I had a bad season. I learned a lot from that. I think that is one of the things that helps me right now.
"In a tennis career, a player goes through a lot of stuff. Sometimes you play really well, other times you play really bad.
"In my case, the bad playing was for almost a year. That was really, really hard for me.
"I just didn't know what to do. I tried a lot of things, but it just didn't happen.
"I guess it's because when you lose one match you get a little bit upset. Then going to the next match, you're just not 100 per cent.
Pironkova may have suffered a disappointing 2009 but one of the highlights was a 6-2, 6-0 win over Zvonareva in Moscow.
And that defeat is just one of the reasons why the Russian was not getting carried away after learning she would not have to face Williams.
"Obviously Venus is always going to be one of the favourite players here at Wimbledon," Zvonareva said.
"But if Tsvetana beat her, she deserves to be in the semi-finals. She played great tennis.
"I played her in Moscow last year and I lost to her. I will try to remember that match. I know I was not playing my best tennis over there."
Zvonareva yesterday prepared for her semi-final match by consigning Williams to another surprise defeat.
The 25-year-old and fellow Russian Elena Vesnina came from a set down to subject the Williams sisters to their first doubles defeat of the year.
Serena Williams can quickly bounce back though when she faces Petra Kvitova, the unseeded Czech, today in their semi-final.
Kvitova knocked out Caroline Wozniacki, the third seed, in their last-16 match before saving five match points, going on to beat Kaia Kanepi, another unseeded player, on Tuesday.
And Williams was not surprised to learn her semi-final opponent after seeing the 20-year-old in action earlier in the tournament.
The defending champion said: "I actually thought she would get through in the early rounds. I'm not surprised that I'm playing her.
"She's really, really good. Early in the tournament, I saw her playing a couple rounds and I was like, 'Wow, she's doing really well.'
"She was just hitting the ball so clean."
Kvitova lost 6-2, 6-1 to Williams in the Australian Open in January but she is determined to enjoy her spot in the limelight.
"I'm not the favourite, so I can just play my game and enjoy it," she said.
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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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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier
Results
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by 12 runs
Kuwait beat Iran by eight wickets
Oman beat Maldives by 10 wickets
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Semi-finals
UAE v Qatar
Bahrain v Kuwait
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
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PAKISTAN SQUAD
Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (test captain), Babar Azam (T20 captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
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- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
GOLF’S RAHMBO
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From: Baghdad, Iraq
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