Rafa Nadal enjoyed an emphatic return to singles action as he powered past Richard Gasquet at the ATP China Open on Tuesday, while world No 1 Novak Djokovic overcame a sluggish start to continue his perfect run in Beijing.
Spanish world No 2 Nadal, playing his first singles match in three months following a wrist injury, extended his record to 13-0 against the Frenchman with a brisk 6-4, 6-0 win after Djokovic had beaten Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-1.
An early break for Nadal in the third game put him on course for the first set but only after the left hander saved a break point with an ace when trying to serve it out.
A dejected Gasquet was then broken in the opening game of the second set as Nadal’s confidence soared, the Spaniard pummelling some trademark forehand winners as he wrapped up the first round win with a 27th fizzing winner.
Nadal’s last match before Beijing was a last 16 defeat to Australian Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon.
He made a low key doubles return on Monday when he teamed up with compatriot Pablo Andujar but the Spanish duo were defeated by Czech Tomas Berdych and American John Isner.
Nadal will face German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk in the second round after the world No 122 defeated big serving Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.
Djokovic had less time away than Nadal but showed more rust in his first appearance on the ATP Tour since losing to Kei Nishikori in the semi-finals of the US Open earlier this month.
The world No 1 traded five breaks of serve in the opening six games against Garcia-Lopez before Djokovic took a grasp of the match by holding for only the second time to lead 5-2.
He then broke Garcia-Lopez for a fourth time to seal the set with the Spaniard his own worst enemy, landing only 38 per cent of his first serves.
The Serb looked more assured in the second set as he dropped just 14 points to take it 6-1 and make it a perfect 20 wins and no losses on Beijing’s blue courts as he bids for a fifth title here.
Third seed Berdych also dropped just three games in a first round win as the Czech downed tall Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-2.
Berdych won the ATP 500 event in 2011, when Djokovic didn’t enter, and needs a similarly strong week to book a spot at the season ending ATP World Tour finals in London.
The Czech currently holds the eighth and final qualifying position for the prestigious November tournament, but many of his challengers for a berth are competing in Beijing or Tokyo this week.
One of those is Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who faced a tough encounter with Spain’s Fernando Versaco in Monday’s night session before prevailing 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
Also on Tuesday Tommy Robredo, who lost the Shenzhen ATP final to Andy Murray last week, topped Italy’s Andreas Seppi. Andujar overcame Julien Benneteau, who fell to Kei Nishikori in the Malaysian Open final last week.
Isner, the eighth seed in Beijing, also beat Santiago Giraldo.
Murray, against Jerzy Janowicz, and seventh-seeded Ernests Gulbis, against Fabio Fognini, were among the big names slated to go later on Tuesday.
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE
Price, base / as tested Dh274,000 (estimate)
Engine 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder
Gearbox Nine-speed automatic
Power 245hp @ 4,200rpm
Torque 500Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km
SHAITTAN
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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.”
Specs
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