Yaroslava Shvedova made history today by becoming the first player to win a set at Wimbledon without conceding a point.
The unseeded Kazakh achieved the feat – known as a golden set – at the start of her third-round match, on Court 3, against the French Open runner-up Sara Errani.
She held serve three times and broke the No 10 seed Errani each time to take 24 consecutive points.
The second set was far closer, but Shvedova, 24, stepped up her game to wrap up a 6-0, 6-4 victory.
"Today I laid a golden egg!" she later tweeted.
Meanwhile, Serena Williams survived the biggest first-week test of her Wimbledon campaign as she came from a set down to fight off the gutsy challenge from the 25th seed Zheng Jie.
Williams held a 5-0 win-loss record over Zheng, but the Chinese produced some excellent tennis to make the American veteran look ordinary at times on Centre Court, where she has previously won four Wimbledon titles.
Zheng often matched Williams for skill and athleticism, but the American's powerful serving – she had a remarkable 23 aces to Zheng's one – enabled her to record a 6-7, 6-2, 9-7 victory.
Williams, who beat Zheng in the 2008 Wimbledon semi-finals, was impressed with the performance of her opponent.
"She played unbelievably well," said Williams, who next faces Shvedova. "I kept fighting in that third set. If I was going to go out I wanted to go out fighting.
"It was good to go through. I needed a tough match like that."
Petra Kvitova, the defending champion, is waiting for her first test. She sailed into the second week with a 6-1, 6-0 win over the Uzbekistan-born American Varvara Lepchenko, setting up a fourth-round meeting with Francesca Schiavone.
That match likely will present a harder task for Kvitova, but for now she can reflect on a hassle-free opening week that has seen her lose just 13 games in total.
The No 4 seed won 53 points to Lepchenko's 28 and now has a day to prepare for her meeting with Schiavone, the Italian who secured her passage with a similarly routine 6-0, 6-4 win over Klara Zakopalova.
Kvitova said: "I felt I played well. I have played her before, at Roland Garros, so I knew I would have to play my game and hold my serve.
"The score looks easy, but some of the rallies were really good."
Despite her impressive form, the 22-year-old Czech is refusing to draw comparisons with her run to the trophy 12 months ago.
"It's tough to look back and learn from last year, because it's now a different tournament. After a year there are a lot of changes."
Also, the No 2 seed Victoria Azarenka had no trouble with Jana Cepelova of Slovakia, winning 6-3, 6-3; Ana Ivanovic, a crowd favourite, advanced to the fourth round with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over the 22nd-seeded German Julia Goerges; and the No 21 Roberta Vinci fended off the challenge of Mirjana Lucic of Germany 7-6, 7-6.
Andy Roddick, a three-time Wimbledon runner-up, lost in the third round today, beaten by No 7-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The 30th-seeded Roddick blew a kiss to the crowd at Centre Court as he left. Roddick, whose 2003 US Open victory was the last grand slam title for an American man, was broken four times. He had been on a seven-match winning streak, including a title on grass as a wild card at Eastbourne a week ago.
Ferrer, a semi-finalist at the French Open, got to the round of 16 at the All England Club for the third consecutive year and fourth time overall. He has never made it to the quarter-finals, but he won his second grass-court title just ahead of Wimbledon, and he is in the half of the bracket that Rafael Nadal had been favoured to win.
Ferrer next faces the No 9 Juan Martin del Potro, who defeated Kei Nishikori in straight sets.
The 2009 US Open champion beat the 19th seed 6-3, 7-6, 6-1 but complimented the Japanese star.
“Nishikori is a dangerous player on a grass court,” Del Potro said. “He’s very, very fast, so I tried to put the ball one more time in every point. I played aggressive. I served really well. I didn’t make too many mistakes with my forehand. So I feel confidence with my game. To beat Nishikori three sets in a row, it’s important.”
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reached the fourth round for the third straight year by beating Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
The fifth-seeded Frenchman never lost his serve and broke Lacko four times to wrap up the victory in a 90-minute match on Court 1 and set up a meeting with Mardy Fish in the round of 16.
Tsonga reached the semi-finals at the All England Club last year after rallying from two sets down to beat the six-time champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals. He went on to lose against eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
Lacko was trying to reach the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time.
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Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
RACE CARD
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 (PA) Listed Dh230,000 1,600m
6.30pm: HH The President’s Cup (PA) Group 1 Dh2.5million 2,200m
7pm: HH The President’s Cup (TB) Listed Dh380,000 1,400m
7.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap Dh70,000 1,200m.
INFO
What: DP World Tour Championship
When: November 21-24
Where: Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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.”
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.
