When Rafael Nadal describes the All England Club as the venue of the "nicest tennis tournament in the world", it sums up why the top players down the generations regard the Wimbledon Championships as the pinnacle of the calender. Nadal was not renowned for his grass-court prowess until two years ago, when he won the London warm-up event at Queen's Club and then disposed of Roger Federer in a memorable Centre Court final.
If he was not in love with the most famous arena in the game before that epic, five-set triumph in near darkness, he is now. "This tournament is very special," Nadal said. "This is true for everybody because it is the nicest tournament in the world. "For me it was always a special ambition to play well here. I did that for three years and finally won. So to be here brings back very nice memories. "It is always a pleasure to be at this very beautiful club."
Wimbledon, despite being perceived as a stickler for tradition, has had a happy knack over the years of winning over its more sceptical visitors. While Nadal, clearly more at home in his formative years on the red clay of European courts, was a relatively easy convert, Andre Agassi, another outstanding former champion, was far from it. Agassi, now 40, portrayed the archetypal non-conformist American teenager when he made his first Wimbledon visit 23 years ago.
Preferring to dress in garish colours normally seen in skateboard parks, he took one look at what he perceived as the whiter-than-white stuffiness of the tennis establishment and promptly lost his first-round match to Henri Leconte, of France, claiming only five games in three one-sided sets. Agassi made a public stance against traditionalism in the four years that followed, declaring in defence of his decision to stay at home that players of his era should not have to forgo their normal attire in order to satisfy Wimbledon's "predominantly white" dress rule.
In 1991 he had a dramatic rethink. He appeared on Centre Court without even a fleck of a rogue colour on his immaculate outfit, reached the quarter-finals, became the darling of the crowds, and returned the following year to become one of the tournament's most popular champions. Agassi's complete transformation from Wimbledon sceptic to ambassador led to him being invited to play in a special match last year. He and his wife, Steffi Graf, seven times the women's champion, were invited to mark the opening of the Centre Court's revolutionary new roof.
The sliding ceiling, though welcome and long overdue in the eyes of many supporters tired of being frustrated by rain breaks, will mean that magical moments like Goran Ivanisevic's emotional victory in 2001 will be fewer from now on. Ivanisevic, the enigmatic Croatian who had lost in two finals, was given a last-gasp wild card that year and capitalised by beating Australia's Pat Rafter in a magnificent final which took place a day later than planned.
That was possibly the pick of a string of fantastic men's singles finals in modern times. The women have had their moments too, including Margaret Court's fantastic 14-12, 11-9 verdict over Billie Jean King in 1970, which helped stake her claim to be the best. One of the most surprising in recent years was Maria Sharapova's interruption in 2004 of a dominant last decade by the Williams sisters. Sharapova, the Russian former world No 1, is dreaming of repeating that success over the next fortnight now that her serving shoulder appears to have recovered from surgery.
"When you arrive here a few days before the tournament you know that something big is round the corner," she said. "I always look forward to it. I love this tournament as much as I did all those years ago." The favourites on the women's side are Serena and Venus Williams, who are seeded 1-2 and have combined to win eight of the last 10 Wimbledon championships. Serena, who earned her third title by beating her sister last year in the final, has tweaked her tournament preparation in anticipation of a visit on Thursday by Queen Elizabeth II, who is expected to attend Wimbledon for the first time since 1977.
"I've been working on my curtsy," Serena said. wjohnson@thenational.ae
The specs: 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV
Price, base: Dh138,000 (estimate)
Engine: 60kWh battery
Transmission: Single-speed Electronic Precision Shift
Power: 204hp
Torque: 360Nm
Range: 520km (claimed)
THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
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
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
