Roger Federer shown during his first round win against Alejandro Falla at the French Open on Sunday. Etienne Laurent / EPA / May 24, 2015
Roger Federer shown during his first round win against Alejandro Falla at the French Open on Sunday. Etienne Laurent / EPA / May 24, 2015

Roger Federer should look safe in French Open second round – for multiple reasons



Here's guessing French Open security guards will not allow a selfie-seeker – or anyone else, for that matter – to get anywhere near Roger Federer following his second-round match on Wednesday.

Not after what transpired at the end of his victory in the first round. A teenager managed to make it out of the stands and stroll across the court to get to Federer, using a cellphone to try to snap photos.

It will be interesting to see whether there are any extra measures implemented at Court Suzanne Lenglen for Federer’s match again Marcel Granollers, given the 17-time grand slam champion’s criticism of security at Court Philippe Chatrier on Sunday.

“We need to make sure that it’s safe out there and people don’t just wander on the court like a free pass,” Federer said.

Tournament director Gilbert Ysern’s stance that day was there was no need to make any changes to protect players, but he did say: “For sure, we will reinforce the message again that clearly nobody is allowed to get on court in any case, at any time, for any reason.”

The contest itself between the second-seeded Federer and the 57th-ranked Granollers hardly seems all that intriguing: Not only has Granollers never been past the fourth round in 30 previous major tournaments, but he’s also 0-3 against Federer.

Here’s a look at what else is happening at the French Open today:

Monfils takes the stage

Tennis’ foremost showman, 13th-seeded Gael Monfils of France, plays on his country’s biggest stage, Court Philippe Chatrier, against Diego Schwartzman of Argentina. Last year, Monfils wowed the crowd at Roland Garros the day before the tournament started by breakdancing on centre court during an exhibition match. His running, leaping, diving shots are the stuff of legend around these parts – and there’s plenty to see on YouTube.

Czechs, mates

Fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych, the Wimbledon runner-up in 2010, takes on his Davis Cup teammate for the Czech Republic, Radek Stepanek, who at 36 is the oldest man in the draw. They helped their country win the Davis Cup in 2012 and 2013.

Sharapova’s cold

After her first-round match, Maria Sharapova dispensed with the customary post-match, on-court interview and headed straight to the locker room, drawing whistles and boos from spectators. She explained that she didn’t have much of a voice because of a cold that had her coughing throughout her win that day. On Wednesday, the defending champion faces another Russian, Vitalia Diatchenko, who is ranked 91st, 89 places below Sharapova.

Double dipping

The top-seeded men’s and women’s doubles teams are in action: American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, owners of a record 16 grand slam titles, face Raven Klaasen and Yen-hsun Lu, while Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza are up against Julia Gorges and Barbora Krejcikova.

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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.”

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