Williams sisters to meet in Rogers Cup semi-finals but Serena says ‘I definitely don’t like playing her’

Serena and Venus Williams will meet in the Rogers Cup semi-finals after each coming through gruelling quarter-finals in Montreal.

World No 1 Serena had to come from a set down to beat close friend Caroline Wozniacki - and then saw her sister follow the same path against Carla Suarez Navarro.

Serena Williams was broken in game five and lost the first set when she drilled a forehand into the net, with Wozniacki then opening up a 4-2 lead in the second and taking a 15-30 advantage on the top seed’s serve.

But Williams held firm, broke twice to win the set and went on to complete a 4-6 7-5 7-5 win in two hours and 41 minutes.

“When you play someone like Caroline, you know your match might be a little longer than normal,” she said. “You go in there thinking ‘This is not going to be routine’.”

Venus then stepped on court looking to follow up her hard-fought win over sixth seed Angelique Kerber on Thursday, and there were signs of a hangover from that outing in a collapse from 4-3 up in the opening set to a set and a break down.

But she responded well by winning 10 of the next 11 games to set up a 4-6 6-2 6-3 win in two hours and 11 minutes.

“I have to play well. That’s pretty much it,” Venus said of her 25th career meeting with her sister, who leads the head-to-head record 14-10.

“There’s no secret or science to it. I think anyone who has gotten any wins against her, they’ve pretty much played the match of their life.”

Serena added: “I definitely don’t like playing her - I think I’ve lost to her more than anyone else on the tour. (But) I definitely feel great when I see her playing so well.”

In the other semi-final, Agnieszka Radwanska will take on unseeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova aiming to get revenge for her Wimbledon elimination.

Third seed Radwanska exploited the travails of Victoria Azarenka - the eighth seed’s heavily strapped right knee slowing her down badly, although an erratic performance had left her in trouble in any case.

The Pole broke three times in each set to win 6-2 6-2 in an hour and five minutes, with Azarenka virtually unable to break into a run from midway through the second set.

Makarova ended the run of American qualifier Coco Vandeweghe, who had accounted for former world number ones Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic in her previous two rounds.

The Russian broke serve three times in the first set and, after being pegged back in the second, stormed through the decider to win 6-1 4-6 6-1.

Follow our sports coverage on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)

Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi

Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi

Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai

Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi

Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia

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.”

2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

Brief scoreline:

Tottenham 1

Son 78'

Manchester City 0

The specs

Engine: 5.0-litre V8

Power: 480hp at 7,250rpm

Torque: 566Nm at 4,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: L/100km

Price: Dh306,495

On sale: now

On Women's Day

Dr Nawal Al-Hosany: Why more women should be on the frontlines of climate action

Shelina Janmohamed: Why shouldn't a spouse be compensated fairly for housework?

Samar Elmnhrawy: How companies in the Middle East can catch up on gender equality

Justin Thomas: Challenge the notion that 'men are from Mars, women are from Venus'

INVESTMENT PLEDGES

Cartlow: $13.4m

Rabbitmart: $14m

Smileneo: $5.8m

Soum: $4m

imVentures: $100m

Plug and Play: $25m

Europe’s rearming plan

Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital