Nick Kyrgios battled past Brandon Nakashima and into the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time in seven years but struggled with a shoulder problem that could jeopardise his chances of going further.
After the drama and recriminations of his clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas, this was a much less tempestuous affair, with Kyrgios largely keeping his behaviour in check on Centre Court.
It became obvious during the first set that all was not well physically but Kyrgios recovered from a set down and then clinched the decider against 20-year-old American Nakashima, winning 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 to set up a quarter-final against Chile's Cristian Garin.
Kyrgios said after his victory: “First I want to say hell of an effort from Brandon, he's 20 years old and he's going to do some special things, that' for sure.
“It was nowhere near my best performance but I fought through – the crowd were amazing.”
Speaking of his shoulder injury the 27-year-old said: “I've played a lot of tennis in the last month and a half. His level didn't drop. My five-set level is pretty good and I've been here before, done it before and that is what I was thinking about.”
Kyrgios has reached the last eight at slams twice before, on his Wimbledon debut in 2014 and then at the Australian Open the following year, losing both times.
Putting aside all the antics of Saturday night, Kyrgios had played a supremely good tennis match, raising hopes – or fears – that he could challenge for the title.
This was a very different assignment, though. Nakashima, who has climbed the ranks swiftly since leaving college in the US, is a consistent, level-headed young player who was never likely to become riled by Kyrgios' behaviour in the way Tsitsipas did.
There was still some showboating – an underarm serve in only his second service game and a wholly unnecessary between-the-legs shot in the fifth game of the second set – but it soon became clear Kyrgios had other things on his mind.
The 27-year-old began holding his shoulder and grimacing, and a half-hearted service game saw him broken to lose the opening set.
He called the trainer and took a couple of pills after three games of the second set, by which time he was unexpectedly a break ahead thanks to a couple of double faults from his opponent.
Even a poor line call did not prompt anything more than a raised eyebrow from Kyrgios, who began to look more comfortable and raise his service speeds as he levelled the match.
The trainer returned to the court after five games of the third set and this time Kyrgios did take a medical timeout to have his shoulder worked on.
The trainer continued to massage the Australian's shoulder at changes of ends but he was still serving strongly and moved two sets to one ahead after playing an excellent tiebreak.
Nakashima, whose expression had barely changed throughout, stayed right in the match, though, and got his reward in the seventh game of the fourth set with a break of serve.
Kyrgios allowed some emotion to show, ranting at his support camp, and his focus had gone completely as he dropped serve again two games later, rolling in serves, including one underarm effort, and slapping groundstrokes away.
He was switched on again at the start of the decider, though, and, after briefly engaging in words with umpire Nico Helwerth over a line call and being told to “stop moaning” by one spectator, broke the Nakashima serve to lead 2-1.
The crowd were fully behind the Australian when he broke again two games later, and he did not look back as he maintained his record of never having lost a five-set match at Wimbledon.
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Norway v Spain, Saturday, 10.45pm, UAE
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
Company%20profile
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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.”
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
