• Novak Djokovic during a training session at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in West London on June 27, 2023. The Wimbledon Grand Slam is due to start at the venue on July 3. AFP
    Novak Djokovic during a training session at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in West London on June 27, 2023. The Wimbledon Grand Slam is due to start at the venue on July 3. AFP
  • LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 27: Novak Djokovic of Serbia practises ahead of The Championships Wimbledon 2023 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 27, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)
    LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 27: Novak Djokovic of Serbia practises ahead of The Championships Wimbledon 2023 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 27, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)
  • Serbia's Novak Djokovic during training. AFP
    Serbia's Novak Djokovic during training. AFP
  • Novak Djokovic during training. Getty
    Novak Djokovic during training. Getty
  • Serbia's Novak Djokovic during training. AFP
    Serbia's Novak Djokovic during training. AFP
  • Serbia's Novak Djokovic takes a break during training. Getty
    Serbia's Novak Djokovic takes a break during training. Getty
  • Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Jiri Lehecka during practice. Getty
    Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Jiri Lehecka during practice. Getty
  • Novak Djokovic at the All England Club. Getty
    Novak Djokovic at the All England Club. Getty
  • Aryna Sabalenka after a training session ahead of Wimbledon. Getty
    Aryna Sabalenka after a training session ahead of Wimbledon. Getty
  • World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka practises ahead of Wimbledon. Getty
    World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka practises ahead of Wimbledon. Getty
  • Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus during training. Getty
    Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus during training. Getty
  • Aryna Sabalenka with her coaching team. Getty
    Aryna Sabalenka with her coaching team. Getty
  • World No 3 and reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina trains at the All England Club. Getty
    World No 3 and reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina trains at the All England Club. Getty
  • Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan with Coach Stefano Vukov. Getty
    Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan with Coach Stefano Vukov. Getty
  • World No 8 Jannik Sinner warms-up at the All England club. Getty
    World No 8 Jannik Sinner warms-up at the All England club. Getty
  • Jannik Sinner of Italy during training as coach Darren Cahill watches on. Getty
    Jannik Sinner of Italy during training as coach Darren Cahill watches on. Getty
  • World No 6 Holger Rune practises ahead of Wimbledon. Getty
    World No 6 Holger Rune practises ahead of Wimbledon. Getty
  • Holger Rune of Denmark practises at the All England Club. Getty
    Holger Rune of Denmark practises at the All England Club. Getty
  • World No 7 Andrei Rublev warms up ahead of Wimbledon. Getty
    World No 7 Andrei Rublev warms up ahead of Wimbledon. Getty
  • Russia's Andrei Rublev at the All England Club. Getty
    Russia's Andrei Rublev at the All England Club. Getty

Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina warm-up for Wimbledon - in pictures


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Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina hit the practice courts at the All England Club on Tuesday as they prepare to start their Wimbledon title defences next week.

The grass-court tournament begins on Monday with Djokovic looking to add to his seven Wimbledon crowns having just secured a record 23rd Grand Slam title at the French Open earlier this month, when he defeated Casper Ruud in straight sets at Roland Garros.

The Serbian 36-year-old – who has just lost his No 1 world ranking to Carlos Alcaraz – triumphed in London last year when he came from a set down to beat first-time major finalist Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6.

World No 3 Rybakina, meanwhile, faces a race to be fully fit for Wimbledon after pulling out from the Eastbourne International hours before her first-round match.

The Kazakhstani withdrew from her third-round match at the French Open with a virus and continues to struggle with the affects of the illness, losing in the second round of the WTA 500 event in Berlin last week.

“I am still recovering from the virus I had in Paris and after Roland Garros it was really tough. I also picked up another small issue in Berlin,” said Rybakina after annnouncing her Eastbourne withdrawal.

Having to drop out at Roland Garros was particularly frustrating for the 24-year-old who had been in good clay-court form having secured the Rome Masters title in the run-up to the Paris Slam.

Last year at Wimbledon, Russia-born Rybakina powered back from a set down against then world No 2 Ons Jabeur to bag her first major crown. She fell just short of a second Slam in January after losing the final in three sets to Aryna Sabalenka in Melbourne.

World No 2 Sabalenka was also on the practice courts on Tuesday, along men's top-10 players Jannik Sinner, Holger Rune and Andrei Rublev.

You can see images of all the players mentioned in the gallery above. To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows or swipe if using a mobile device.

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Mia Man’s tips for fermentation

- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut

- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.

- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.

- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.

 

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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Updated: June 28, 2023, 4:57 AM