World No1 Ashleigh Barty had to dig deep for her victory over Anna Blinkova at Wimbledon on Thursday that secured her entry into the third round of a depleted women’s draw.
Barty was far from convincing in her 6-4, 6-3 win over Russia's Blinkova as she progressed to a third-round clash with Czech Katerina Siniakova.
The Australian had to overcome an uncharacteristically erratic serve to secure victory. She committed nine double-faults, including three in the first game, and was broken three times, but also hit 33 winners to Blinkova's 12.
“Not my best serving day,” Barty said. “I was just out of rhythm a little bit. Some days you feel like you’re eight feet tall and you can’t miss the box. Other days, like today, you feel like you’re three-foot-nothing. It’s certainly nothing that will concern me over a longer period.
“A few things didn't feel quite right today. That's half the battle in sport, being able to find a way when it's not feeling all that great.
“I felt like when my back was against the wall today I was able to bring the good stuff. It just wasn't quite there all the time.”
Third seed Elina Svitolina became the latest big name to fall at SW19 after being beaten by Poland's Magda Linette in the second round.
“I think mentally today I was not really in a good place,” said Svitolina after losing 6-3, 6-4 to Linette, the world No 44 had never beaten a top-15 player in a completed match before. She had 28 winners to just eight for Svitolina.
The Ukrainian has fallen on hard times since the pandemic struck, making it past the fourth round in just one of the five Grand Slams played.
“When you play a Grand Slam, it is all of the time a lot, different kind of pressures,” she said. “Sometimes it's tough to handle, but it is part of the job, is the part of the Grand Slam.
“You have to be strong, try to be good to yourself and try to overcome the fears, the difficulties.”
Coco Gauff enjoyed a successful Centre Court homecoming as she easily beat Russia's Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-3 to make it through to the third round.
The American was back at the scene of where her life changed two years ago, when, as a 15-year-old, she became the story of the championships by making it from qualifying to the fourth round.
And she had fun on her return, easing past the former world No 13 in 70 minutes. Gauff said in her on-court interview: “It means a lot to be back here on Centre, this court makes me the most nervous than any court in the world.
“After I win the matches it is one of the best feelings, but I was super nervous coming in. There is no other court like Centre Court at Wimbledon.”
French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova extended her winning streak to 14 matches by beating Germany's Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 6-4. The Czech is aiming to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2015 to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon back to back.
In the men’s section, fourth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany hit 13 aces, lost only 12 points on his serve and advanced to the next round by defeating the American Tennys Sandgren 7-5, 6-2, 6-3.
Zverev, US Open runner-up in 2020 and a semi-finalist at last month’s French Open, has never been past the last 16 at Wimbledon.
Britain saw three players in the third round for the first time in 22 years. Cameron Norrie joined Andy Murray and Dan Evans in the round of 32 by overpowering wild card Alex Bolt of Australia 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.
Italian No 7 seed Matteo Berrettini beat Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, 7-6, while French 13th seed Gael Monfils lost to Pedro Martinez of Spain 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6.
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.”
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