Australia young gun Nick Kyrgios knocked top seed Roger Federer out of the ATP Madrid Masters on Wednesday with a stunning 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (14/12) victory.
Kyrgios, who beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last year, sent down 22 aces to Federer’s 15 and next faces John Isner of the United States.
“I’ve been playing well recently on the clay, so I knew I had a good chance to go out there and do well. I stuck to my game and served well and I got the win,” said Kyrgios, who was runner-up on clay at Estoril last weekend.
“I guess that’s why you play the game, to play on these big courts against these big players. He’s the greatest of all-time, no doubt.”
Top seed Federer saved five match points in the deciding tiebreaker while having two of his own annulled by the big-hitting Australian youngster, who just turned 20 at the end of April and is ranked 35th.
“I couldn’t return his first serve, I had a horrible performance on return of serve,” said Federer. “That made life difficult for me.
“I’m disappointed with how I played on returns, and that cost me the match.”
Meanwhile, second seeded Andy Murray went through, beating Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 in a second round tie which finished at just after 3am (5am UAE time) Thursday.
Murray, who had defeated Kohlschreiber in the rain-delayed Munich final on Monday in another three-setter to claim his first claycourt title, next faces Spain’s Marcel Granollers.
Nadal returned to his claycourt comfort zone, starting his campaign for a fifth Madrid title with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Steve Johnson.
The victory in 74 minutes lifted Nadal’s clay record over Americans to a perfect 10-0 while the third seed improved to 12-3 on the surface this season.
The nine-time French Open champion has four Madrid titles and has played in six finals at his showcase home event.
He is aiming to extend his streak of winning at least one European ATP clay title leading into Roland Garros to 11 straight years.
Nadal goes on to face Italy’s Simone Bolelli for a quarter-final spot.
“I think I played a solid match, I played the way I needed to to win that match. I know after a loss like Barcelona (third round) things are not easy when you’re playing the next match,” said Nadal.
Women’s top seed Serena Williams and defending champion Maria Sharapova survived marathon three-setters to reach the quarter-finals.
Williams saved three match points and needed 2 hours 45 minutes to take her undefeated record this season to 23-0, making the most of a late serving collapse from former No 1 Victoria Azarenka.
“I could have won, she could have won. I ended up winning and I don’t know how,” said Williams after her 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-6 (7/1) win. “I feel like it was intense.”
Williams next faces Carla Suarez-Navarro after the Spanish 10th seed beat Serbian seventh seed Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 1-6, 6-4.
Third seed Sharapova went two and a half hours before seeing off Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
Sharapova started 2015 by winning 17 of her first 18 matches, but came to Madrid having lost three in a row.
She has now won 57 of her last 62 matches on clay as she waits to play fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki in the quarters. Wozniacki advanced over Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-2.
Two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, the fourth seed, advanced with ease over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-4.
Romanian Irina Begu beat Barbora Strycova 6-4, 6-4 to next take on Kvitova.
Nadal was joined in the men’s third round by Japanese fourth seed Kei Nishikori who saw off Belgium’s David Goffin 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Nishikori will face Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut for a quarter-final spot.
Sixth seed Tomas Berdych accounted for weekend Estoril winner Richard Gasquet 7-6 (7/3), 7-5.
Spanish seventh seed David Ferrer beat Albert Ramos 6-4, 6-0 and Madrid’s Fernando Verdasco knocked out US Open champion Marin Cilic 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
Bulgarian tenth seed Grigor Dimitrov came back to beat Italian Fabio Fognini 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 while Leonardo Mayer beat 11th seed Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (8/6).
No 12 Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat American Jack Sock 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4).
Isner, the 16th seed, fired 23 aces to defeat Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (11/13), 6-1.
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IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Meydan race card
6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; (D) 1,200m
7.40pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; (D) 1,900m
8.15pm: Handicap; Dh185,000; (D) 2,000m
8.50pm: Handicap; Dh185,000; (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; (D) 2,000m
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
Bundesliga fixtures
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
RESULTS
6.30pm UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) US$100,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Final Song, Christophe Soumillon (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer).
7.05pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (Turf) 1,000m
Winner Almanaara, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.
7.40pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Grand Argentier, Brett Doyle, Doug Watson.
8.15pm Meydan Challenge Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Major Partnership, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.
8.50pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Gladiator King, Mickael Barzalona, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,410m
Winner Universal Order, Richard Mullen, David Simcock.
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.”
