MELBOURNE // Rafael Nadal reached his fourth consecutive grand slam final after overcoming an early Roger Federer onslaught to again beat his old foe at the Australian Open.
Federer came out firing but Nadal gradually wore him down to clinch a 6-7 (5/7) 6-2 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 win in three hours and 42 minutes and secure his place in Sunday night's title decider against Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray.
Federer versus Nadal remains one of sport's great rivalries and this was another classic - both players slugging it out until Nadal broke crucially for a 5-4 fourth-set lead before serving it out.
Maria Sharapova has avenged her Wimbledon loss to Petra Kvitova and returned to the Australian Open final for the first time since winning the last of her three major titles here in 2008.
Sharapova broke Kvitova's serve in the last game to finish off a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory and set up a championship match against Victoria Azarenka. The third-seeded Belarusian beat defending champion Kim Clijsters to reach her first Grand Slam final.
The winner of Saturday's final also will gain the No 1 ranking.
Sharapova lost to second-ranked Kvitova in the Wimbledon final last year and was struggling to hold her serve against the 21-year-old Czech lefthander in the third set, when she served five double-faults.
"In the third set, I felt she always had the advantage because I was always down on my serve," said Sharapova, who won her first major at Wimbledon in 2004. "I just told myself, 'You just gotta go for it, don't let her finish off the points like she likes to."'
Kvitova had won their previous two matches, but let herself down with 41 unforced errors as she tried to unsettle Sharapova with her powerful groundstrokes.
Azarenka won the other semi-final 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, twice recovering from periods when a resurgent Clijsters seemed to have the upper hand. She broke the veteran Belgian's serve three times in the third set to secure victory in only her second appearance in a major semi-final.
After a strong start, Azarenka's serve deserted her in the second set and Clijsters dictated play with her solid groundstrokes and some amazing defence.
But after getting the momentum back, it was Clijsters who blinked first in the third set, dropping serve in the second game and again in the fourth.
The 22-year-old Belarusian said: "I felt like my hand is about 200 kilograms and my body is about 1,000 and everything is shaking, but that feeling when you finally win is such a relief. My God I cannot believe it's over. I just want to cry."
Clijsters is a popular player in Australia, where she is widely known as "Aussie Kim".
"I guess before you all thought I was a mental case. I was just young and emotional," Azarenka said in a courtside interview. "I'm really glad the way I fight, that's the most thing I'm really proud of. I fight for every ball."
Clijsters credited Azarenka with increasing maturity. "The match was very close. There were a few deciding moments where I think I maybe had a little bit of an advantage, in the third set, especially that first game where I had break point," Clijsters said. "But, you know, she definitely played really well. She was playing very aggressive tennis, moving really well. So she deserved to win at the end."
TOMIC CHARGED FOR SPEEDING
Police issued two traffic tickets to Bernard Tomic after waiting outside his home while he spoke to a lawyer in the latest episode of a feud between the teenage Wimbledon quarter-finalist andlocal officers.
Australian media reported that officers tried to pull over Tomic, who did not stop but drove his BMW sports car back to his home at Southport on Australia's Gold Coast.
Two officers went inside the house to speak to Tomic, who then sought legal representation, saying he wanted to make a complaint against police. The 19 year old, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and had got special permission on his license to drive the car, had previously complained about perceived persecution by local police.
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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.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Titan Sports Academy:
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What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
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
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- 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
