Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova sent former finalist Agnieszka Radwanska crashing to a surprise exit at Wimbledon on Monday, while giant-killer Barbora Zahlavova Strycova claimed another famous win to lead a triple Czech charge into the quarter-finals.
Makarova, the 22nd seed, had never been past the third round in her six previous appearances at Wimbledon, while Polish fourth seed Radwanska made the final in 2012, losing to Serena Williams, and then the last four 12 months ago,
But the 26-year-old, a quarter-finalist at the Australian and French Opens last year, destroyed the world No 4 on Court Three and will play Czech 23rd seed Lucie Safarova for a place in the semi-finals.
Radwanska’s exit means three of the top four seeds have been eliminated from the women’s draw following the defeats of Williams and Li Na.
Earlier, Zahlavova Strycova moved into the last eight with a 6-2, 7-5 victory against former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki.
Zahlavova Strycova, the world No 43, had enjoyed the best win of her career in the previous round when she defeated Chinese second seed Li and she added Danish 16th seed Wozniacki to her list of upsets, converting a sixth match point to move into the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time at the 32nd attempt.
The 28-year-old, who served a six-month ban for doping last year, will play compatriot Petra Kvitova for a place in the semi-finals.
Asked about her revival after the drugs suspension, Zahlavova Strycova admitted she almost quit after testing positive for banned stimulant sibutramine at the 2012 Luxembourg Open.
“I didn’t want to play again because I felt like it’s a little bit unfair,” she said.
“In the first two months, I didn’t want to come back. It was tough, but on the other hand, it also brings me some positive things. I am seeing the sport a little bit different now. And here I am.”
Czech sixth seed Petra Kvitova, who won the Wimbledon title in 2011, routed world No 61 Peng Shuai of China 6-3, 6-2 in just one hour on Court Two.
The 24-year-old has now reached the last eight at Wimbledon for five successive years.
Three of the four quarter-finalists in the bottom half of the draw are Czech after Safarova ended the fairytale run of world No 175 Tereza Smitkova, a 19-year-old who was the lowest ranked woman left in the tournament, with a 6-0, 6-2 victory in just 47 minutes.
Safarova will face Makarova in her first Wimbledon quarter-final appearance, which will also be the 27-year-old’s first last-eight clash at a Grand Slam since 2007.
Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard booked her first appearance in the quarter-finals as the 13th seed defeated Alize Cornet 7-6 (7/5), 7-5.
The 20-year-old underlined her growing reputation by seeing off French 25th seed Cornet, who had caused one of the great Wimbledon upsets in the previous round when she defeated world No 1 Williams.
After reaching the semi-finals at the Australian and French Opens already this year, Bouchard, a junior Wimbledon winner in 2012, will aim to make it three in a row at the majors when she faces either world No 5 Maria Sharapova or German ninth seed Angelique Kerber in the last eight.
“It’s great to be in the quarters at Wimbledon, that’s what I work so hard for,” Bouchard said. “But I want to go one step further so I have to keep focused.”
Sabine Lisicki, last year’s beaten finalist, finally downed former world No 1 Ana Ivanovic on Monday to give herself a place in the last 16.
In a third round match called off for bad light on Saturday, and then interrupted by rain early on Monday, the German 19th seed eventually beat the Serbian 11th seed 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
She faces Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova on Tuesday for a place in the quarter-finals.
“I always have a first here at Wimbledon so it was quite fitting to have the match suspended due to darkness, not play on the Sunday, come back, play, rain and then finish it. Finally we did it,” Lisicki said.
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The biog
Birthday: February 22, 1956
Born: Madahha near Chittagong, Bangladesh
Arrived in UAE: 1978
Exercise: At least one hour a day on the Corniche, from 5.30-6am and 7pm to 8pm.
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi? “Everywhere. Wherever you go, you can relax.”
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
Motori Profile
Date started: March 2020
Co-founder/CEO: Ahmed Eissa
Based: UAE, Abu Dhabi
Sector: Insurance Sector
Size: 50 full-time employees (Inside and Outside UAE)
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Safe City Group
Friday's schedule at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 qualifying, 10:15am
Formula 2, practice 11:30am
Formula 1, first practice, 1pm
GP3 qualifying session, 3.10pm
Formula 1 second practice, 5pm
Formula 2 qualifying, 7pm
Racecard
6pm: The Pointe - Conditions (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m
6.35pm: Palm West Beach - Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (T) 1,800m
7.10pm: The View at the Palm - Handicap (TB) Dh85,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.45pm: Nakeel Graduate Stakes - Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
8.20pm: Club Vista Mare - Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,900m
8.55pm: The Palm Fountain - Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,200m
9.30pm: The Palm Tower - Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,600m
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.”
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
