To think Sara Errani wasn't even going to come to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
“I was thinking maybe not to come here,” Errani said in the post-match press conference. “I was thinking of taking two or three weeks to relax, to recharge my energy.”
Errani’s decision to delay a rest could not have worked out any better after cruising through the final 6-0, 6-2 against Barbora Strycova last night to collect her ninth WTA title, and with it a winner’s cheque of $465,480 (Dh1.7m).
Also read: Ahmed Rizvi on Sara Erraniand her do-it-all, never-say-die style serving her well in Dubai
Also see: The National's Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships landing page
After being on the receiving end of a Dubai final beating in 2013, it was Errani’s turn to dish out a thrashing of her own. Three years ago, Italian Errani suffered a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 defeat to Petra Kvitova, but in her second appearance contesting for the title, she would make no mistake this time around.
In fact, describing it as a contest would be stretching it. In the space of one hour and eight minutes, Errani, the world No 22, hammered a completely out-of-sorts Strycova to become the first Italian to win the Dubai title. Errani is now expected to climb to No 17 in the world rankings.
For much of the week a picture of solidity, Strycova’s groundstokes deserted her when she needed them most. Her march to the final was based on an ability to disrupt her opponent’s rhythm with consistent baseline play and aggression at the net.
While any form of consistency was non-existent, each time Strycova approached the net, Errani read her like a book and passed her with ease.
“It was one of those days where you try everything and nothing is working,” Strycova said. “The funny thing is that I went on court and I didn’t feel nervous about the match.
“I tried everything and I couldn’t put one ball in. I don’t know why, or what happened, it’s just sometimes how it is in tennis.”
Perhaps the writing was on the wall for Strycova from the opening game, when she was broken to love. Errani, on the other hand, only faced one break point all set, and by that stage she was already 5-0 ahead.
At 2-0 down in the second set, the outlook was bleak for Strycova, but determined to watch a competitive final, the Centre Court crowd threw their support behind the 29-year-old Czech, who managed a wry smile in appreciation.
The support appeared to do the trick and after Strycova registered her first game of the match, she raised her arm in thanks to those in attendance.
However, it wasn’t long before Errani dashed any hope of a Strycova fightback when the Italian earned a second break in Game 5, and after two more service holds, Errani closed out the fastest final in the tournament’s history.
“It’s an unexpected title for me. It has been a tough moment, tough year so far,” said Errani, who prior to this week has won just two matches from four tournaments this season.
“To win here is amazing, it’s such a good tournament.”
A successful week may have ended in disappointment for Strycova, but she is remaining focused on the bigger picture rather than the blowout of a final.
“I took so many things from this week,” she said. “I can believe in myself and in my game, that I can beat anybody.
“To believe that you can do it, it’s good feeling. I beat Ana [Ivanovic], which I never did before. This gave me so much confidence. I am also enjoying tennis again.”
So another year for the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships has come to an end, and what an entertaining and unpredictable week it has been.
But if there is one thing we can safely predict for the 2017 tournament, Errani will not consider missing it again.
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 0
Stoke City 0
Man of the Match: Erik Pieters (Stoke)
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.”
Key facilities
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- 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
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Dunki
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
