Roger Federer serves against Santiago Giraldo during his third-round win on Saturday at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Andrew Yates / AFP / June 28, 2014
Roger Federer serves against Santiago Giraldo during his third-round win on Saturday at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Andrew Yates / AFP / June 28, 2014
Roger Federer serves against Santiago Giraldo during his third-round win on Saturday at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Andrew Yates / AFP / June 28, 2014
Roger Federer serves against Santiago Giraldo during his third-round win on Saturday at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Andrew Yates / AFP / June 28, 2014

‘Easy-going’ win for Federer, Rafa Nadal in ‘good spirits’ advancing at Wimbledon


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Roger Federer was barely troubled as he cruised into the last-16 at Wimbledon on Saturday with a straight sets win over Santiago Giraldo under the Centre Court roof.
The seven-times champion triumphed 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 over the Colombian world No 35 in an hour and 21 minutes and rarely looked troubled.
In the fourth round, Federer faces Tommy Robredo of Spain, seeded 23rd, for a place in the quarter-finals. Robredo beat No 15 seed Jerzy Janowicz 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 4-6, 6-3.
It's really about maintaining a good level of play," said Federer, who is yet to lose a set in the tournament and has only dropped 23 games in three matches.
"I'm physically in pretty good shape right now, a few niggling things always going on right now but nothing really that worries me at this point.
"I've just got to keep playing aggressive and serving well. I think that's what you've got to do on this service. If I can keep the points short, great, otherwise, battle it out from the baseline.
"It's been an easy-going sort of last couple of weeks here at Wimbledon. We've really enjoyed it as a family and clearly I'm kept busy on that front. I hope it's going to be nice weather on Sunday so we can go outdoors a bit."
Giraldo, 26, is in the form of his life, having hit a career-high ranking of 34 in May and it would have taken the biggest win of his career to become the first Colombian to reach the last-16 at Wimbledon.
But it was only at 3-3 in the third set when he fashioned two break points, and Federer pulled off some smart serves to win the game and did not look back.
"I stayed in control right until mid-way through the third," the 32-year-old said.
"It was important to serve big then and get out of that game and then the next thing you know I got break points of my own.
"I was very happy, it was a really good match. I'm very pleased, it's always good to keep on moving on. Last year I lost in the second round so I'm aware of the tough draws you get, or the danger of certain players on this surface and I've been able to get it done many time – but not always, clearly."
Federer's victory brought England football icon David Beckham to his feet, one of several British and international sports stars invited into the Royal Box.
"I'm worried about the first week, getting to the second one, then the grass plays quite differently, actually, the second week so you can do a few different things depending on the weather," Federer said.
"Don't even know who my next round opponent is. I'm just happy I made it to the second week."
Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, overcame an early blip to defeat Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin and reach the Wimbledon last-16, shining beneath the Centre Court roof as heavy rain swept away the action outside.
The 2008 and 2010 champion dropped the opening set for the third time in three matches before turning things around in a 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory.
The second seeded Spaniard blitzed world No 63 Kukushkin, who had never won a match at Wimbledon before this year and had only ever beaten one top-10 player.
Nadal, the 28-year-old winner of 14 Grand Slam titles, won 17 of the last 19 games.
They had played just 15 minutes of their third-round match out on Court 17 before rain halted all action on the uncovered courts and forced All England Club organisers to cancel 24 doubles and junior matches by mid-afternoon.
Nadal had dropped the first set to Martin Klizan and Lukas Rosol in his first two rounds and Kukushkin, playing in his 21st tournament of the year, employed the same free-swinging tactics to bludgeon his way through the opener.
But in front of a Royal Box containing such sporting glitterati as retired Indian cricket master Sachin Tendulkar, ex-England football captain Beckham and former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, Nadal regained his composure to race away with the win.
From 1-1 in the second set to 3-0 in the fourth set, Nadal won 14 of 15 games and only faced his first break points of the tie at 2-0 in the fourth.
Kukushkin, a rare example of a player coached by his own wife, stopped the rot by getting on the board at 1-3.
But it was a brief respite as Nadal stormed to victory with 41 winners and just 12 unforced errors.
"At the beginning he was playing pretty long, no mistakes, very aggressive and I made few unforced errors with that second serve," said Nadal who has reached the second week for the first time since 2011.
"In the tie-break, I didn't serve my best and that was the real thing – without serving your best in a tie-break against a player who is playing well, it is impossible."
Nadal said he was looking forward to the second week after a first round loss in 2013 and second round exit 12 months earlier.
"I'm very happy to be in the second week again after two years losing in the first and second round. I'm playing well, good spirit, good tactics on court, fighting for every ball."
He will meet Australian rising star Nick Kyrgios after his victory over Jiri Vesely.
The world No 144 beat his Czech fellow former junior world No 1, also playing on a wildcard, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 in their third-round tie.
Kyrgios was roared on by supporters on Court 17 who serenaded him with a rendition of the national anthem "Advance Australia Fair", with the emphasis on enthusiasm rather than note-hitting accuracy.
The 19-year-old debutant now has a shot at two-time Wimbledon champion Nadal in the fourth round which should provide a measure of his progress.
Kyrgios is the youngest player left in the men's draw and also the last Australian standing in the singles.
The Canadian eighth seeed Milos Raonic was the day's other winner, topping Poland's Lukasz Kubot in slight struggle of a match 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.
The rain pushed matches between John Isner and Feliciano Lopez and Stan Wawrinka and Denis Istomin to Sunday, while Kei Nishikori was left locked in a fifth-set, 3-3 battle with unseeded Italian Simone Bolelli.
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Who's who in Yemen conflict

Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government

Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south

Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory

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While you're here
Who is Allegra Stratton?

 

  • Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
  • Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
  • In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
  • The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
  • Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
  • She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
  • Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
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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.”

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

Scoreline

Germany 2

Werner 9', Sane 19'

Netherlands 2

Promes 85', Van Dijk 90'

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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The specs

Price, base / as tested Dh960,000
Engine 3.9L twin-turbo V8 
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Power 661hp @8,000rpm
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Fuel economy, combined 11.4L / 100k

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Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten

Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a  month before Reaching the Last Mile.

Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

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