Djokovic and Gulbis reach French Open semi-finals after straight-set wins

Paris // Six-time grand slam title champion Novak Djokovic and big-hitting giant killer Ernests Gulbis will clash for a French Open final place after their straight-sets quarter-final triumphs on Tuesday.

World No 2 Djokovic, who needs a Roland Garros title to become the eighth man to complete a career grand slam, tamed big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic 7-5, 7-6, 6-4 to reach his sixth semi-final in Paris.

“It was very complicated against his serve, which is so precise and powerful, but I’m really happy,” the Serb said.

“It was difficult to return and important for me to keep concentration, but I’m delighted to be in the semi-finals.”

Djokovic, 27, made it three wins out of three against Raonic, following Rome in May and a Davis Cup semi-final in 2013.

His next opponent, Gulbis, put out Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to back up his shock defeat of Roger Federer in the fourth round.

“Gulbis is a very good player. He beat Roger and now Berdych in three sets, which is really impressive. He’s playing his best tennis, so it’s going to be an important match for me,” Djokovic said.

Gulbis, 25, the 18th-seeded Latvian who is more known for his colourful behaviour and outspoken comments off the court than his achievements on it, stormed into his first semi-final at a major.

Beating Berdych made Gulbis the second most successful match winner of 2013. He now has 32 wins, with just Rafael Nadal ahead of him on 38.

“This is very special. I am very happy to share it with you,” Gulbis said. “It was my best match of the tournament so far. Everything worked. Tomas was getting angry because I was hitting the lines all the time but, sorry, that’s part of the sport.”

Gulbis has a 1-4 record against Djokovic, with whom he once trained when they were youngsters in Munich.

sports@thenational.ae

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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.”

Djokovic and Gulbis reach French Open semi-finals after straight-set wins

Latvian makes short work of Czech No 6 seed Berdych to set up semi-final against former training partner

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