Grigor Dimitrov beat David Goffin 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in a gripping title decider at the ATP Finals on Sunday to become the first debutant to win the season finale since 1998.
In a surprise final match-up, the Bulgarian sixth seed held his nerve under intense pressure at London's O2 Arena to seal the biggest title of his career on his fifth match point.
He will climb to third in the rankings behind only Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as he begins to deliver decisively on his rich promise as a youngster.
"It has been a tremendous two weeks for me," said the 26-year-old. "It is such an honour to play here. This week has been one of the best I have had."
"I am lost for words," he added. "My team have been unbelievable, my family."
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Read more:
Roger Federer shocked by David Goffin in semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals
ATP World Tour Finals: Nadal's season ends in painful defeat by Goffin
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The Bulgarian came into the title decider unbeaten at the O2, with a healthy 4-1 head-to-head record against Goffin, including a 6-0, 6-2 win in the round-robin stage.
But seventh seed Goffin was buoyed by wins over world number one Nadal and and a gutsy effort against second seed Federer, coming back from a set down to beat the Swiss in the semi-finals.
Both players struggled to hold serve at the start of the contest in front of a packed house and the error count was high from both men.
After three consecutive breaks, the Belgian was the first to hold his serve, forging ahead 3-1 but as time ran out for Dimitrov, Goffin played a poor service game, going long on a forehand to concede another break of serve as the Bulgarian levelled the match at 4-4.
The errors continued to flow from a nervy-looking Goffin and Dimitrov finally secured the decisive break on his fifth set point when the Belgian thumped a forehand into the net.
Goffin, 26, landed just 42 percent of first serves in the first set and made 20 unforced errors, struggling to find the bite and consistency he had enjoyed in beating Federer.
In the second set, neither player earned a break point until the sixth game, when Goffin saved himself with a dramatic backhand crosscourt shot that caught the sideline, taking advantage of two double faults from Dimitrov in the next game to break.
Infused with renewed belief, the Belgian held his nerve to clinch the set 6-4.
Despite a sprinkling of break points, a tight third set went with serve until the sixth game, when Dimitrov broke to lead 4-2 as Goffin went wide with a backhand.
As the tension mounted, Goffin bravely saved three championship points on his own serve but Dimitrov held his nerve to seal the match on his own serve after two-and-a-half hours, at the fifth time of asking.
A disappointed Goffin said: "It was a special week for me. A week with a lot of emotion and a lot of fatigue. Now I am feeling tired but it was an amazing week.
"We did an amazing job. It was tough after losing to Grigor in the group. It was not easy to come back but we worked a lot as a team."
Dimitrov has enjoyed the best season of his career, claiming his first Masters title in Cincinnati and winning two other titles aside from the ATP Finals as well as reaching the Australian Open semi-finals.
Nicknamed "Baby Fed" early in his career for the similarity of style in his game to the Swiss, Dimitrov has struggled to live up to the comparison, slipping to 17th in the rankings at the end of 2016.
The final that nobody expected came just a year after Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray battled it out in London for the number one slot.
But both players have been absent from the Tour for months and with Nadal also forced to pull out of the ATP Finals after his round-robin opener, the end-of-season finale has had an unusual flavour.
Sunday's final was the first time in the tournament's history that two players who qualified for the first time faced off in the title decider.
The last player to win the trophy in their first year as a qualifier was Alex Corretja in 1998.
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Favourite book: The Power of Habit
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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.”
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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