Elena Rybakina hopes her affinity with UAE can spur her to Abu Dhabi Open success

Elena Rybakina hopes her strong affinity with the UAE will translate into success when she gets her Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open campaign under way.

Rybakina is a frequent visitor to the UAE. She played in this tournament’s inaugural edition last year and in the one-off Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open in 2021 – an event created to help the schedule during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Kazakh world No 5 has also played in three of the last four Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, reaching the final on debut in 2020 when she lost in one of the greatest women’s matches in the tournament’s history.

Rybakina also conducts her pre-season training camps in the UAE so is more familiar than most with the courts and conditions.

“I really like the UAE and playing here,” Rybakina, 24, told The National on Monday. “I spend a lot of time in pre-season here, I’ve already done four years in a row.

“Even now after Melbourne I stayed in Dubai and I come to Abu Dhabi often. I really enjoy it – I really like the people here, the food, the weather, so I’m enjoying my time here.”

Rybakina is the top seed at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open this week and is one of four players to receive a bye into the second round, where she could face four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka.

The Japanese former world No 1, in the early stages of her comeback, accepted a wild card for the tournament and is in first-round action against American Danielle Collins on Tuesday.

Collins, a former world No 7 and Australian Open finalist, would also represent a tough opening match for Rybakina, but the prospect of two of the WTA Tour’s biggest stars battling in Abu Dhabi is a tantalising one.

“[Osaka] is a great player, she’s just coming back now and still won’t be at her best but no matter what she’s a very dangerous and experienced player,” Rybakina said. “It’s not going to be easy, for sure, and it would be a very tough battle so we will see. Hopefully, it will go my way.”

Abu Dhabi Open - in pictures

Rybakina arrived in Abu Dhabi following a mixed first few weeks to the season. The former Wimbledon champion began in supreme style, marching to the Brisbane International title – and crushing world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the final – only to suffer second-round defeats in Adelaide and at the Australian Open.

Yet, she insists none of the experiences so far this season, the good and the not-so-good, play any real part in her approach to Abu Dhabi.

“I started [the season] well, which I didn’t expect because I had quite a short preparation and I was sick right before the tournament,” she said. “Then in Melbourne it was a tough first round and I had some issues after that match, which was a bit unlucky but that’s tennis. The season has only just started and there is still the whole year, so we will see how it goes.”

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.”

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

EMILY%20IN%20PARIS%3A%20SEASON%203

%3Cp%3ECreated%20by%3A%20Darren%20Star%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Lily%20Collins%2C%20Philippine%20Leroy-Beaulieu%2C%20Ashley%20Park%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%202.75%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

While you're here

Gavin Esler: A no-deal Brexit looks imminent to mark the end of a four-year-long 'fairy tale'

David Frum: What President-elect Biden needs to fix – and preserve – from the Trump era

Damien McElroy: Post-Brexit, the UK should be more pragmatic in dealing with the world

Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”