He is the man who sparked joyous scenes of celebration across a grateful nation when he ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men’s champion.
Yet 14 months later Andy Murray’s towering frame was missing from the eight-man lineup featured on the giant billboard posters plastered across the streets of London to advertise the ATP World Tour Finals.
While organisers scramble to replace the out-of-date banners – proclaiming “Get Ready London. They’re Back” – with ones featuring Murray, the Scot is unlikely to lose any sleep over the omission.
What he will be more keen to focus on will be the thought of completing a unique treble of London titles.
Having bagged a gold medal from the 2012 London Olympics and won the 2013 Wimbledon championship, Murray will get his first chance to complete the hat-trick at The O2 next week after missing last year’s season finale following back surgery.
“It (winning the treble) would definitely mean a lot,” Murray told Reuters in an interview in the run-up to the Tour Finals.
“I know what it takes to win at the highest level so I will just make sure I prepare myself in the best possible way to give myself the best chance of success, but I am playing well and enjoying it right now.
“It was disappointing not playing last year when I had to withdraw because of my back. It has been a tough year, but I feel like I am fully fit now, and have had a great last six weeks and I can’t wait to return to the O2,” added Murray, who has also won three Queen’s Club titles in the capital city.
“You do appreciate how much you enjoy the sport and how much you enjoy playing when you are unable to do it. That was tough last year.”
It certainly has been a remarkable six weeks for Murray.
Following his quarter-final exit at the US Open, he dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in over six years.
That sparked fears among home fans that Murray might miss out on the season finale but the 27-year-old was soon enjoying the benefits of a punishing fitness regime that sees him train even on Christmas Day.
He survived five match points against Tommy Robredo to emerge victorious in Shenzhen. The Scot subdued David Ferrer in three exhausting sets in the Vienna final.
He then left Robredo jokingly showing him the middle finger after the Spaniard saw another five match points vanish as Murray triumphed in Valencia.
“With my ranking having dropped a bit and obviously I hadn’t won a tournament for a while ... last four of five weeks have been very good for that,” said Murray, who only secured his place for the ATP Finals during last week’s Paris Masters.
Declaring that “it has been three or four years since I felt so well”, he is raring to get going again.
“The way the finals have been won, I saved (five) match points in two of them and also in the third one Ferrer was serving for the match (in Vienna). So they have been very, very tight, close matches so it has been nice to get a few wins.
“I don’t know how I’m going to feel in a week’s time but, providing I do all the right stuff to prepare, if I get enough rest, and recovery ... I’ve played enough matches, I’ve played enough tennis to give it a good go there.”
It seems many of his rivals also think Murray is doing the “right stuff”.
Three years after he pulled off a coup by hooking up with eight-times grand slam champion Ivan Lendl, the players’ lounge at The O2 will be buzzing with the presence of no less than five “super coaches”.
While Murray is now guided by Amelie Mauresmo, ‘80s rivals Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg will be on hand to oversee the progress of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer respectively.
Goran Ivanisevic and Michael Chang will also be at the Tour Finals with London debutants Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori.
So does Murray think of himself as bit of a trend setter in tennis?
“I don’t try to do things that are left field. You would think that working with previous great tennis players would be helpful, in my view it wasn’t thinking outside the box,” said Murray, whose union with Lendl helped him win two grand slam titles and an Olympic gold.
“Sometimes people are maybe worried to ask to see if they (former champions) want to do it because it’s a lot of time, and travelling. It’s a big commitment to coach on the tour and not many people who have played for 10-12 years want to go straight back and want to do it.
“With Ivan that obviously worked out well in terms of results so I’m sure some players would have looked at that ... and saw that maybe that would work.”
The ATP World Tour Finals will be held at The O2 in London from November 9-16.
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WandaVision
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany
Directed by: Matt Shakman
Rating: Four stars
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The biog
Favourite books: 'Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life' by Jane D. Mathews and ‘The Moment of Lift’ by Melinda Gates
Favourite travel destination: Greece, a blend of ancient history and captivating nature. It always has given me a sense of joy, endless possibilities, positive energy and wonderful people that make you feel at home.
Favourite pastime: travelling and experiencing different cultures across the globe.
Favourite quote: “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders” - Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.
Favourite Movie: Mona Lisa Smile
Favourite Author: Kahlil Gibran
Favourite Artist: Meryl Streep
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
The bio:
Favourite holiday destination: I really enjoyed Sri Lanka and Vietnam but my dream destination is the Maldives.
Favourite food: My mum’s Chinese cooking.
Favourite film: Robocop, followed by The Terminator.
Hobbies: Off-roading, scuba diving, playing squash and going to the gym.
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Kerb weight: 1580kg
Price: From Dh750k
On sale: via special order
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
Day 3, Dubai Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Lahiru Gamage, the Sri Lanka pace bowler, has had to play a lot of cricket to earn a shot at the top level. The 29-year-old debutant first played a first-class game 11 years ago. His first Test wicket was one to savour, bowling Pakistan opener Shan Masood through the gate. It set the rot in motion for Pakistan’s batting.
Stat of the day – 73 Haris Sohail took 73 balls to hit a boundary. Which is a peculiar quirk, given the aggressive intent he showed from the off. Pakistan’s batsmen were implored to attack Rangana Herath after their implosion against his left-arm spin in Abu Dhabi. Haris did his best to oblige, smacking the second ball he faced for a huge straight six.
The verdict One year ago, when Pakistan played their first day-night Test at this ground, they held a 222-run lead over West Indies on first innings. The away side still pushed their hosts relatively close on the final night. With the opposite almost exactly the case this time around, Pakistan still have to hope they can salvage a win from somewhere.
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.”
Poland Statement
All people fleeing from Ukraine before the armed conflict are allowed to enter Poland. Our country shelters every person whose life is in danger - regardless of their nationality.
The dominant group of refugees in Poland are citizens of Ukraine, but among the people checked by the Border Guard are also citizens of the USA, Nigeria, India, Georgia and other countries.
All persons admitted to Poland are verified by the Border Guard. In relation to those who are in doubt, e.g. do not have documents, Border Guard officers apply appropriate checking procedures.
No person who has received refuge in Poland will be sent back to a country torn by war.
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
