‘Feeling really good’ Federer moves on at Miami Masters, joined by Ferrer and Murray
Roger Federer had little trouble at the Miami Masters third round on Sunday, beating Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 6-3. Andy Murray also topped Feliciano Lopez and David Ferrer beat Andreas Seppi.
Two-time winner Roger Federer and defending champion Andy Murray eased into the fourth round of the ATP and WTA Miami Masters, producing efficient wins in heat and humidity Sunday.
Fifth-ranked Federer pounded Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 6-3 in just over an hour while British sixth seed Murray downed practice partner Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-1.
Ivan Lendl, the coach from whom Murray recently parted, was sitting in the player box to watch his former protege’s triumph.
Federer, 32, broke for victory in the final game, with de Bakker saving a pair of match points but also double-faulting at a crucial moment.
Federer secured his 21st match win of the season when a backhand from the Dutchman floated long.
“I’m feeling really good with my game,” said Federer, who next faces French ninth seed Richard Gasquet.
“My confidence is high and I’m moving well. I’m excited about how I’ve been playing.”
Federer said he will need to gather information on Gasquet, whom he last played in November at the season-ending event in London.
“We’ve played many times and I’m not sure how he’s playing right now,” he said. “I have to find out a little bit.”
Murray polished his record to 9-0 over Lopez in only 73 minutes. The Scotsman, who does much of his off-season training in Miami, improved to 21-6 in the US city.
“I don’t know how hot it was, but when we came over at like 9:30 it was already 80 Fahrenheit (23 Celsius) and it was extremely humid. They are not easy conditions,” said Murray.
He now faces French 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who outlasted Marcos Baghdatis 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 7-5.
Murray has won eight of their nine ATP meetings, the most recent last year on grass at Queen’s.
Tsonga trailed a set and was down 5-1 in the second-set tiebreaker when he suddenly found some much-needed form, rallying to win after two and a half hours.
The Frenchman fired 16 aces and needed only one break of serve to make the winning difference.
“It seemed like a very tough match,” Murray said of Tsonga’s win. “A lot of tight games towards the end. He did well to come back.”
Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer defeated Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-2.
Kei Nishikori also advanced over Grigor Dimitrov, Richard Gasquet topped Kevin Anderson and Tommy Robredo beat Julien Benneteau.
Also advancing was Chinese world No 2 Li Na, the reigning Australian Open champion who dispatched American Madison Keys 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
Li spent nearly an hour surviving the first set, saving two set points on the serve of 38th-ranked Keys.
The American committed a backhand error on her first chance and double-faulted on the second before Li got the break for 5-4 in a set which eventually went into a tiebreaker.
Li won the decider on the first of four set points to seize the momentum. She then saved a pair of break points in the final game and won after one hour, 41 minutes.
Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska, last week’s Indian Wells runner-up, beat Russia’s Elena Vesnina 7-5, 6-3.
Radwanska will play 19-year-old Ukrainian Elina Svitolina for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Tenth-seeded Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova beat Alize Cornet 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 while former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki hammered American Sloane Stephens 6-1, 6-0.
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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.
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“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.”
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hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
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The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
