Finally, the old gang is reassembling. This week, for the first time since the US Open two months ago, three of the top four players in men's tennis are in the same competition. Next week, in Paris, and later this month, in London, all four should be in the same tournament.
Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer are playing the Swiss Indoors Basel this week, and Rafael Nadal is due to join them at the Paribas Masters next week and again at the ATP World Finals.
This is good news for fans of the game who are keen to learn the answers to several questions.
Is Djokovic primed to put an exclamation mark on the end of a marvellous season? Three successive victories would make this a season to compare to any. Can Nadal end Djokovic's dominance over him?
And can he keep the other two in his rear-view mirror?
Is Murray's rightful place in the world order ahead of Federer, as he finds himself at the moment, or behind him, which has been the previous state of affairs?
Injuries and fatigue conspired to keep no more than half of the Big Four from playing in any tournament between the US Open and Basel. Djokovic and Federer have not played at all, aside from the Davis Cup.
Murray has the most to gain in Basel. He could face Federer in the semi-finals and Djokovic in the final, and a pair of victories there could present us with another year-end question: is the Scot ready for a push for the top?
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
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara