Andy Murray must be getting pretty sick at the sight of Novak Djokovic these days.
The Scot has faced off against the world No 1 four times in 2015, at four of the biggest tournaments on the calendar, and he has lost all four matches: the final of the Australian Open, the semis at the French Open, and in the final and semis of Miami and Indian Wells.
Only two other men have beaten Murray in the first six months of this year – Borna Coric in Dubai and Gilles Simon in Rotterdam.
Djokovic aside, his record against the rest of the world top 10 is 6-0 with two wins against Tomas Berdych and one each over Rafael Nadal, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic and David Ferrer.
Murray’s record against Djokovic is the only black mark on what has been one of the best starts to a season for the two-time grand slam title champion and world No 3.
But Murray has lost eight on the trot against Djokovic and Boris Becker, the Serb’s coach, thinks the 2013 Wimbledon champion’s habit of chastising himself, and often his coaching team, is holding him back.
“Murray is honest, but in a negative way,” Becker told the Daily Mail. “I’ve never seen a guy – not even John McEnroe – who commentates on every single point the way Murray does. It’s mind boggling how much he speaks to himself during the match.”
The damaging effects of that chatter were obvious in the Australian Open final, when Murray, a break up in the third set, allowed a tiring Djokovic to escape to a four-set win, losing 6-0 in the fourth.
His performance was deemed a meltdown and the trend seems to have continued.
In the Miami final, Murray lost the final set 6-0; at Roland Garros, he lost the fifth 6-1 after winning the third and the fourth.
Those capitulations suggest Murray’s emotions are getting the better of him at crucial times.
Coming home to the grass courts of Wimbledon could be a remedy for his woes against Djokovic. Murray’s last win over the Serb came on the hallowed turf at SW19 in the final of the 2013 tournament.
Murray won that match 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 and, 12 months earlier on the same courts, he had defeated Djokovic in the semi-final of the London Olympic Games, also in straight sets (7-5, 7-5).
That gives him a 2-0 record against Djokovic on grass and, should they meet again at the All England Club next month, Murray will have confidence on his side.
He also will have both his coaches – Jonas Bjorkman, a grass court specialist in his playing days, and Amelie Mauresmo – in his corner and thousands of compatriot fans packed into centre court and the “Murray Mound” to cheer him on.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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India squad for fourth and fifth Tests
Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Shaw, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur, Vihari
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.”
