Red hot Iga Swiatek made it 25 wins in a row after an impressive 6-4, 6-1 victory over Victoria Azarenka at the Italian Open on Thursday.
The 20-year-old world No 1, who is aiming to seal a fifth tournament in a row, produced a ruthless performance against the former top-ranked player and Grand Slam winner.
The last player to win more consecutive matches was Serena Williams, who had a streak of 27 in a row during 2014 and 2015.
Swiatek's remarkable run makes her a favourite to win a second French Open when the year's second Grand Slam gets under way in 10 days.
It looked like the win-streak might be under threat as Azarenka – a two-time Australian Open champion – stormed into a 3-0 lead, breaking Swiatek twice in the process only for the Pole to battle back.
Azarenka got rattled when a spectator entered the front row of the mostly empty VIP section just behind her as she was facing a break point late in the first set.
When she then double-faulted to hand Swiatek control of the set, she slammed her racket in frustration and complained to the chair umpire about the mid-game interruption.
Azarenka broke again at the start of the second set but that was as good as it good from there on for the Belarusian as Swiatek rattled off six games on the bounce to seal victory.
Swiatek will next face 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, who eliminated Croatian qualifier Petra Martic 6-4, 6-4, while third-seed Aryna Sabalenka swept past Madrid Open finalist Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-4.
Unseeded Swiss Jil Teichmann continued her strong form that took her to the Madrid semi-finals by defeating Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 in just over three hours.
In the men's tournament, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas both made it through to the quarter-finals, increasing the prospect of a last four clash between the pair.
The German was unruffled in his 6-3, 7-6 victory over Australian Alex de Minaur as he looks to bounce back from being trounced by teenager Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid final on Sunday. “My performance was better than yesterday. I managed to keep my focus,” Zverev said.
Tsitsipas meanwhile was forced to work harder for his 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 win over former Paris Masters winner Karen Khachanov.
Russian Khachanov, whose best results have come on hard court, deservedly took the first set against sluggish world No 5 Tsitsipas.
The Greek, who won this year's Monte Carlo Masters, bounced back in the second set and once he broke in game two of set three, Khachanov's fate was sealed.
In the last eight, Tsitsipas will take on either Filip Krajinovic or local hero Jannik Sinner, the only Italian left in the men's tournament.
“I think loosening up a little bit and trying to concentrate a bit more on that gave me the win today,” Tsitsipas said. “It hasn't been easy the last two matches but I can only take the good side.”
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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TO ALL THE BOYS: ALWAYS AND FOREVER
Directed by: Michael Fimognari
Starring: Lana Condor and Noah Centineo
Two stars
