Jo-Wilfried Tsonga returns a shot to Roger Federer of Switzerland during Tsonga 7-5, 7-6 victory in the final of the Rogers Cup at Rexall Centre in Toronto, Ontario, August 10, 2014. AFP PHOTO / Geoff Robins
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga returns a shot to Roger Federer of Switzerland during Tsonga 7-5, 7-6 victory in the final of the Rogers Cup at Rexall Centre in Toronto, Ontario, August 10, 2014. AFP PHOTO / GeoffShow more

Fired-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stuns Roger Federer to win Toronto Masters



TORONTO // Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the Toronto Masters with a win over Roger Federer, two years after injuring himself at the same event in a freak collision with a fire hydrant.

French 13th seed Tsonga hit 11 aces and 26 winners to win Sunday’s final 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) while Federer, two days after his 33rd birthday, was undone by 37 unforced errors.

“If you believe in something it can happen,” said Tsonga. “I’m proud of what I’ve achieved this week.

“I played well all this week. I beat many good guys.”

The 29-year-old Tsonga dropped just one set all week as he knocked out world number one Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray en route to the final.

It was Tsonga’s second career Masters 1000 title, coming almost six years after his first at Paris Bercy in 2008.

He is just the second French player after Guy Forget to win two titles at the Masters level.

Tsonga spent just over one and three-quarter hours in constructing his upset over the man who had beaten him in both of their previous finals played in 2011.

Tsonga dealt with injuries for much of 2013 but is now fit and brimming with confidence.

The French player said his win Sunday had special significance because of his experience two years earlier.

Fresh off winning an Olympic silver medal in doubles in the 2012 London Games, Tsonga injured his right knee in Toronto after walking into a fire hydrant as he was out for a stroll. He had lost in the opening round of the Masters 1000 event in Toronto to Jeremy Chardy.

The injury required eight stitches and forced him to pull out of the Cincinnati Masters event the following week.

“This will stay in my heart forever,” he said. “Two years ago here I had knee problems, now it’s all changed. This win was something really special. I have a lot of respect for Roger.

“It was such a great week for me, I played so well, and I’m so happy. It’s just incredible to be back on form like this.

“I knew I could play well again, this should help me for the rest of the season.”

Federer, the second seed, had been bidding for his 80th career title and 300th win at a Masters.

The Swiss star was playing his sixth final of the season and has won titles in Dubai and Halle. He has also lost in the final at Wimbledon.

“I had a great time, even if the match didn’t go as I was hoping,” said Federer, now 44-9 this season as he heads to Cincinnati next week.

“I had some epic night sessions this week, and I really enjoyed them. Jo deserved this title, he beat some amazing players on the way and backed it up with another title.”

Tsonga won his 11th career title and claimed his first since Marseille 18 months ago.

Both men stayed level in the opening set, which went by without a break point until the 12th game when Federer returned wide.

That error yielded a set point for Tsonga, who took immediate advantage by forcing another Federer miscue to claim the set after 43 minutes.

In the second set, Federer saved a match point in a 10th game which lasted for eight and a half minutes.

But the French player prevailed in the ensuing tiebreaker, earning victory on the first of three match points from a Federer backhand error.

Tsonga said that this will give his confidence a big boost.

“This win give me a lot of hope for the rest of the year,” he said. “But I will continue to do my work like I did last couple of months, and I hope I will continue to win.”

Follow our sports coverage on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE

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Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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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.”

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Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
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Followed older brother Jordan into England age-group rugby, as well as the pro game at Northampton Saints, but recently switched allegiance to Scotland.

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