Sania Mirza has won five tennis tournaments with three different partners this season. Chris Hyde / Getty Images
Sania Mirza has won five tennis tournaments with three different partners this season. Chris Hyde / Getty Images

Tennis

Sania Mirza confident of winning grand slam title with Cara Black

Indian tennis star talks to Osman Samiuddin about her recent doubles successes, including in Tokyo and Beijing.

Osman Samiuddin

October 09, 2013

How do you and Cara Black work so well together?

“We are opposite players to each other and I think that’s the most important thing. I mean I hit the ball very hard and flat while she has extremely crafty hands. She is very good around the net and I’m very good around the back. Our personalities match and we are very good friends.”

Why did you not partner with Black earlier?

“The last time I asked her to play she decided to have a baby instead and she retired. So when she came back I really just had to nab her and I think that has really worked well. The only time [in the last nine matches] we have played badly was the first set of the first match and from there we’ve just kept improving.”

You are missing out on the season-ending WTA Tour championships.

“Yes, I am disappointed to miss out on the championships. But you have to understand that it’s not entirely in my control. I won five tournaments but with three different partners this season and if I would have done that with one person I would be playing in that championship. But that’s the way it is and you have to accept it.”

What are your targets for the next season?

“I don’t know if this is the best shape I’ve been in, but I’m in good shape and playing better because for the last couple of years I have had no major injuries. I just want to try and be as fit and stay healthy as much as possible. I have not set any goals as of now but our next aim is to win grand slams together.”

What’s next?

“I plan to take three weeks off and not try to touch my racket at all. I will start training after that. I came back here [to the UAE] on Sunday from Beijing and literally I have been on the go since. I’m here now and finally get some time off and go out on a holiday.”

osamiuddin@thenational.ae

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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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