The pre-tournament promotional shots suggested that Caroline Wozniacki feels right at home in Dubai, and Tuesday she offered two more weighty confirmations of that theory.
The first, a gutsy come-from-behind victory against Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, who provided one half of the first round’s main attraction at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The second, well, let us just say it does not look out of place in an emirate that can rightfully claim to be the capital of bling.
“It’s eight-carat,” said Wozniacki of the glittering rock that now resides on her left ring finger. “That’s my lucky number.”
Fortunate, indeed. The Dane brought in the New Year with Rory McIlroy, her golf-star boyfriend, on a boat in Sydney, when McIlroy got down on one knee and produced the sparkler.
“Very thoughtful,” Wozniacki said. “I should have said 18, but …”
Wozniacki has been getting diamond treatment in Dubai, all right. Having just re-signed as global brand ambassador for the title sponsor, her tournament preparation included a photo session with the penguins at Ski Dubai. Slipping gloves over her new jewellery proved not too much of a chore, but with racquet in hand it represents a pretty hefty hazard.
“I take it off,” she said. “I don’t want to see it fly off somewhere and not being able to find it.”
Fat chance of that – just follow the dents on court.
Wozniacki was making her mark here nonetheless, rebounding from a set down against Lisicki to eventually emerge a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 winner.
Much has been made about Wozniacki’s recent coaching problems. Earlier this month, she dropped Thomas Hogstedt following a brief period together, before announcing the return of Martin Mortensen, a compatriot who trained her in years gone by.
However, it is her father who is credited with honing a talent that through 2010 and 2011 spent 67 weeks atop the women’s world rankings, and against Lisicki, Piotr Wozniacki was repeatedly called upon.
His input seemed most valuable when his daughter was trailing 2-1 in the second set, as Wozniacki responded by promptly racing through the exchanges to level the match. She was similarly supreme throughout the third, advancing to a second-round clash with qualifier Annika Beck.
“One of my biggest strengths is I never give up,” the No 8 seed said. “That’s one of the reasons why I made it so far back in the day, as they say. I’ve won a lot of matches that I should’ve lost in the past, as well.”
For all the doggedness Wozniacki displayed, she acknowledged the role her dad played. It can be difficult for a daughter to accept being told where she has gone wrong, but at age 23 and with nearly a decade as a professional to her credit, Wozniacki has matured sufficiently to know when to take things on board.
“Obviously, I’m not stupid, so I see some things and I know approximately what I need to do out there,” she said.
“But sometimes when you’re in the game and you want to win, you focus so much on that, that there are some things you don’t see. So it’s nice to have someone from the outside that just says, ‘Pay attention to this, and this can help you’.”
With everything going on in her private life, maintaining focus could be difficult. Wozniacki, the 2011 Dubai champion, has had a frustrating start in 2014, failing to make it beyond the third round in three starts.
There have been other victories, however.
“We already have a lot set: date, location, everything,” said Wozniacki of her wedding plans, though she declined to disclose if it would happen this year.
“You never know.”
Jankovic cautious of second-round opponent
Jelena Jankovic, a former world No 1, faces a difficult second-round tie after beating qualifier Maryna Zanevska. Jankovic, who won 6-4, 6-3, now meets Lucie Safarova, who on Monday defeated American prodigy Sloane Stephens.
“It’s going to be a tough match,” Jankovic said. “She’s a left-handed player and it’s never easy playing those kind of players. Hopefully I can play better than I did [against Zanevska] and we will see how it goes.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2)
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 1 (Hudson-Odoi 90 1')
Manchester City 3 (Gundogan 18', Foden 21', De Bruyne 34')
Man of the match: Ilkay Gundogan (Man City)
'Cheb%20Khaled'
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RACECARD%20
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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
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Real Madrid (2) v Bayern Munich (1)
Where: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
When: 10.45pm, Tuesday
Watch Live: beIN Sports HD
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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