Iga Swiatek 'not yet peaked' and ready to rock at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

If musical taste can be a reflection of one's personality, then perhaps a similar correlation can be applied to Iga Swiatek and her tennis style.

High-octane and powerful, with the ability to whip the crowd into a frenzy – little wonder, then, that the world No 1 is a big fan of rock and roll.

"I did change [my playlist] a little bit, but it's still rock," Swiatek said on Monday. "It's still Red Hot Chili Peppers, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin."

Swiatek, 21, arrived in Dubai this week after a heavy-metal display in Doha, crashing her way to the title for the loss of just five games in three matches. In those three matches, she secured a 6-0 set in each.

Given the incomparable standards she set last season – eight titles, two Grand Slams, miles clear at the top of the standings – this year started a little out of tune; a one-sided defeat to Jessica Pegula at the United Cup, preceding a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open, albeit to eventual finalist and Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

Yet, the manner of victory last week at the Qatar Open suggests Swiatek is very much back on song as the Pole prepares to begin her Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships campaign.

"I really used the time after the Australian Open to reset mentally and focus on working on my technique," Swiatek said. "I learned a lesson from my last match in Australia; that I have to be there, energetically, on court and run a little bit more, give more. In Doha I was able to do that."

Lessons Swiatek will no doubt will carry forward into this week in Dubai, where she gets underway in the second round against 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez.

Karolina Pliskova eased into the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. AP

As has now become customary, Swiatek is favourite to win the title but there is stiff competition, none more so than world No 2 and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka.

However, despite the Belarusian's Grand Slam breakthrough, Swiatek is aware she remains the player to beat and warned there is still much more to come.

"I don't think I peaked [this season] because there are many tournaments that I like [coming up]: Rome, Roland Garros, basically the whole clay season. I wouldn't say that I peaked. I just got my level up compared to Australia, that's all," she said, before adding when asked if she could maintain her dominance from 2022: "I think last season was already pretty dominant, so yeah."

Among the players aiming to halt Swiatek in her tracks, Jelena Ostapenko got her title defence up and running in fine style on Monday, the Latvian 13th seed claiming a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Ukraine's Katarina Zavatska in the first evening match on Centre Court.

Sorana Cirstea edged past Beatriz Haddad Maia in the longest WTA Tour match of the season so far. Getty

Karolina Pliskova was also in a hurry as the Czech former world No 1 – a finalist in Dubai in 2015 – raced past compatriot Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-4. The world No 18 will face Greek sixth seed Maria Sakkari in one of the headline matches of the second round.

There were a couple of shocks on Day Two: last year's finalist Veronika Kudermetova, seeded 10th this week, was defeated 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 by world No 33 Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine, while Romania's Sorana Cirstea edged past Brazilian 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in a marathon match, the 3hr 29min contest becoming the longest match on the WTA Tour so far this year.

“I wasn’t planning to break the record to be honest. I fought really hard today and have nothing left,” world No 70 Cirstea said. “Beatriz played amazing and sometimes tennis is not fair.

"You play for three and a half hours and the difference is a point. But this is tennis, I’m happy to come out on the winning side and I’m proud of the way I fought. This is what tennis is all about.”

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.”

Iga Swiatek 'not yet peaked' and ready to rock at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

Polish world No 1 ready to make her mark in UAE tournament fresh from clinching Doha title