Omar Behrouzian knows he is not in the same league as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and the other four players who will visit his homeland for the forthcoming Mubadala World Tennis Championship at Zayed Sports City.
He has one thing in common, though, with the dynamic duo who have ruled world tennis for the past decade - No 1 status, albeit in a country that rarely figures on the global radar.
Behrouzian, 28, has been as dominant in the UAE as Nadal and Federer have been at the peak of their powers. The leading Emirati has spent most of the past two years, however, lamenting the fact that his tennis career had stalled due to inactivity while he recovers from a knee injury far more serious than those which have hampered Nadal in recent times.
Delighted though he is to be back to his best at last, the undisputed UAE No 1 is concerned that nobody has come through to take his place at the top of the national rankings.
Behrouzian, who recently added the relaunched Tennis Ranking Masters tournament to his array of local titles, said: "When I got injured, the UAE team found it very hard to cope without me.
"We wanted somebody to come through and share the responsibility but it has not happened. I don't see anything happening at the moment to create a situation where we have five or six good players coming through to represent the UAE at Davis Cup level.
"I have to be honest when I'm talking about tennis; it is no good hiding the truth. I try to be positive and look for a solution but, at the moment there isn't one, so it's a bit worrying for the long-term prospects of the game here.
"I don't think that we have the quality or quantity in this country at the moment. There are a few decent players around but we are seriously lacking in talent."
That pessimistic appraisal by the player who is hoping for an eighth wild-card entry into the ATP Tour event in Dubai in February contrasts with the upbeat assessments coming from the sport's governing body, Tennis Emirates.
Lifted by an encouraging promotion from the bottom group of the Davis Cup earlier this year and confident of climbing another rung on the world ladder in the next series of promotion matches in the middle of next year, administrators here feel their efforts are slowly being rewarded.
Jorge Martin is the Spaniard who masterminded the team's convincing promotion from the Asia/Oceania Group IV in April. As Martin prepares for the next campaign against Vietnam, Lebanon, Kuwait and Myanmar, he said: "I am happy with the progress that the players are making.
"I have been coaching them since March and there has been a noticeable improvement in the standard of play.
"We started working on their technique. Now we are working on their fitness. We need to build up their stamina levels so that they are better-equipped to cope with the longer matches they may have to play. Inshallah, we can be promoted to Group 2 which would be a tremendous achievement for the country.
"I can see in the eyes of my players that they are hungry to do this. We have good countries in the group but our players are getting better. We are all friends. We have tried to create harmony and become a good, friendly group.
"I see a fairly bright future ahead. It is not going to be easy. We need more facilities but I like having to overcome difficulties. I have loved my time here so far and I am determined to do a good job."
Not surprisingly, the coach who was recruited under an arrangement struck by Tennis Emirates with the Madrid Tennis Federation, singled out Behrouzian as the key to any future upgrade for the national team.
"For me, Omar is the best in the country by some margin," said Martin. "I have no doubt about that. Two years without touching a racket is too much and it obviously affected him when he returned. But he's playing very well again now, which is encouraging.
"He is the leader of our team so it would be nice if that was recognised with another wild card into the Dubai Championships."
Behrouzian welcomed the appointment of the experienced Martin, 43, who coached Gala Leon Garcia, the Spanish player, into the world's top 25 and to an appearance in the quarter-finals of the 1999 French Open.
"The Davis Cup promotion was a very good achievement for him and for us," Behrouzian said.
"We were not 100 per cent right, physically. I would say all of us were not totally ready to play so we didn't really expect to do that well.
"Jorge came in and did a very good job on us in the first couple of months. It was a difficult time for him but he sharpened us up quite a lot. He's a very hard worker. He would sleep on the court if he had to. Everybody likes to work with him, from the Davis Cup team right through to the juniors and kids."
Behrouzian pointed to the ATP tournament in Dubai, where he has lost in the first round on all seven occasions he has appeared, as a stark barometer of how far he and other Emiratis have to go to compete at the top level.
"It's so tough," he said. "I have played some decent matches there but always without success. When you are used to playing at a certain level it is not easy to make the jump to oppose one of the leading players.
"On a good day you can compete with players who are ranked around the top 300 in the world but the top 50 players, I'm sorry to say, represent 'mission impossible' for me if I am drawn against them. I just have to enjoy the experience when it comes my way."
wjohnson@thenational.ae
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
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.”
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
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