Former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki is set to make a tennis comeback three years after retiring from the sport.
The Dane, who spent 71 weeks at top of world rankings and won 30 singles titles, announced her retirement before the 2020 Australian Open at the age of 29, saying she wanted to start a family with her husband, former NBA player David Lee.
She has since had a daughter Olivia and son James and on Thursday the 32-year-old announced she was making a comeback.
Wozniacki, who turns 33 in July, has not played an official match since losing to Ons Jabeur in the third round of the Australian Open in January 2020.
“Over these past three years away from the game I got to make up for lost time with my family, I became a mother and now have two beautiful children I am so grateful for,” Wozniaki wrote on Twitter
“But I still have goals I want to accomplish. I want to show my kids that you can pursue your dreams no matter your age or role. We decided as a family it’s time. I’m coming back to play and I can’t wait!”
Wozniaki said in an interview with Vogue she wants to play at the Canadian Open in Montreal in August.
She has also targeted the US Open later that month, the Australian Open next January and then the Olympics in Paris next summer.
“Am I nervous? Not really,” she said. “I'm coming back to something I love.
“Can I win the US Open? I think so. Can I win the Australian Open? I think so. That's why I'm doing this. And I guess we'll see what happens.
“If I didn't believe in myself, I wouldn't be doing this: I'm too competitive to just show up and not feel like I'm going to be one of the best players out there.”
The United States Tennis Association later announced that Wozniacki, a two-time finalist at Flushing Meadows, had been awarded a wildcard for the Grand Slam that begins on August 28.
“After that, I'll have a couple of months to prepare for Australia and we'll take it from there. The Paris Olympics are definitely a goal too,” Wozniacki added.
The Dane, who turns 33 next month, said she was inspired by 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams after the American returned to the sport following the birth of her daughter Olympia.
“I think that Serena doesn't get nearly enough credit for getting to so many Grand Slam finals after having Olympia,” said Wozniaki, who won the Australian Open in 2018 and lost in the US Open final in both 2009 and 2014.
“Her retirement will always be bittersweet, both for me and for so many other players, because she's meant so much to women's tennis. She paved the way for so many of us, she showed us that anything is possible.”
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Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
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Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
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Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
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Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
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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