Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Karen Khachanov to reach first Australian Open final

Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame a third-set wobble to defeat Karen Khachanov and reach his first Australian Open final.

The third seed has been a man on a mission all fortnight, troubled only by Jannik Sinner in the fourth round until now, and he looked set to cruise into the final as he stepped up to serve for a straight-sets victory.

But Russian Khachanov clung on, breaking Tsitsipas and then saving two match points in the third-set tie-break before the Greek eventually clinched a 7-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 victory.

The 24-year-old immediately recalled watching Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis reach the final here back in 2006, saying: “I dreamed as a kid to maybe one day to get to play on this court and compete with the best players in the world. It brings back memories of being a kid and watching it on TV and cheering him on.”

Tsitsipas will become world No 1 if he wins the title on Sunday, and he added: “I like that number. It’s a childhood dream to be world No 1. I am close and I am happy that this is coming in Australia, a place of significance for me. Let’s do it guys, let’s go.”

Tsitsipas had reached the last four in three of the last four years at Melbourne Park without going further, losing in 2019 to Rafael Nadal and in 2021 and 2022 to Daniil Medvedev.

He was not to be denied this time, though, and will now aim to go one better than his only previous slam final at the French Open in 2021, when he led Novak Djokovic by two sets to one but was eventually beaten.

He may well find the Serbian on the other side of the net again but will believe, if he can show the same form he produced for most of this contest, he can have a chance of pulling off the upset.

Tsitsipas will surely need to avoid the same lapses if it is Djokovic he faces, though, after also failing to serve out the opening set.

Having broken to lead 5-3, Tsitsipas played a poor game to drop serve and was then briefly in trouble at 5-5 after double-faulting when a second time violation resulted in him forfeiting a first serve.

He recovered to hold, though, and played a flawless tie-break to move in front.

Tsitsipas, who had won all his previous five matches against Khachanov, was the better player in the second set as well, finally breaking in the penultimate game, and he appeared poised for victory serving for the match at 5-4 in the third.

Khachanov rallied, though, breaking back and then producing two huge forehand winners when Tsitsipas moved 6-4 ahead in the tie-break.

The third seed appeared rattled and drove a forehand long to hand the set to Khachanov, but he regrouped quickly with a break at the start of the fourth and this time held onto it.

The result means a second successive semi-final exit at a slam for Khachanov, who was cheered on by a number of fans waving Armenian flags following his public support for the breakaway region of Artsakh.

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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