It has been 16 long months since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal last met in the final of a grand slam event. With both players in their prime it feels as if the public has been robbed of seeing arguably the best rivalry in sport at present from reaching new heights.
The 2009 Australian Open final witnessed a classic as Federer and Nadal pushed each other to the limit in Melbourne Park, with the Spaniard coming out on top of a five-set thriller.
At that stage it seemed to be a passing of the torch as Nadal was on his way to usurping Federer as the world No 1, and was the holder of the French and Australia Open titles, as well as Wimbledon. The world looked as if it was his oyster.
Federer was left distraught and in tears on court after his Melbourne loss and appeared to be a broken man, knowing that a younger, stronger rival was getting the better of him.
But wind the clock forward 16 months to today and a lot has changed between the two.
Federer is now back at the top of the rankings having won three of the last four grand slams, narrowly losing out completing the Grand Slam after losing to Juan Martin del Potro in five sets at the US Open final last September.
Unquestionably the one that meant the most to him was his first triumph at Roland Garros last year, which came at the 11th attempt.
Clay is the one surface that the Swiss has never dominated on, although he has adapted his game over the years well to make himself a genuine contender. He returns to Paris to defend his crown, with the tournament starting today, and the question now is no longer is Federer able to win in Paris, but rather can he beat Nadal in the French capital?
Between 2005 and 2008 Nadal owned the French Open; it was almost his private play thing. He dominated with his brute force from the baseline, proving too good for everyone, even Federer. Indeed the way he thrashed Federer in the 2008 final, conceding only four games along the way, was one of the greatest demonstrations of clay court tennis ever seen.
However, the one thing that could stop Nadal was his own health. His deteriorating knees were beginning to bother him, and it was one of the biggest sporting shocks of last year when a visibly below-par Nadal was humbled in the fourth round by Sweden's Robin Soderling to lose at Roland Garros for the very first time.
It has taken the 23-year-old Spaniard almost a year to nurse himself back to health, but despite a scare at the Australian Open, when he retired hurt against Andy Murray in the quarter-finals, he is confident he is fit and nearing his best form.
He certainly didn't look to have lost a step in his straight sets win in the final of the Madrid Masters last weekend against Federer.
A Federer v Nadal final in Paris for a fourth time is the most likely scenario, but will it go the same way as the other three with Nadal winning to pick up his seventh grand slam?
The one key difference from the previous occasions is that Federer is no longer desperate to win the French Open to complete his quest to win every grand slam.
That monkey was removed from his back 12 months ago, it is now purely about pleasure and adding another title to his already astonishing 16 grand slams, and he is likely to cut a much more relaxed figure on court than at any previous time in Paris. The pressure, arguably, is more on Nadal this time.
Federer has the harder-looking path to the final. A possible fourth-round match with the home favourite Gael Monfils, the 13th seed, who reached the last four in 2008, while the man he beat in the final last year, Robin Soderling, could be his quarter-final opponent, stand out as potential banana skins.
Nadal will rightly not fear anyone, but will be wary of having his compatriots Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer, both superb on clay, in his side of the draw. Federer kicks off his challenge against Peter Luczak, the Australian, while Nadal begins against Gianni Mina, the 18-year-old Frenchman.
The draw was not so kind to Murray, the world No 4. The Briton, who has had a tough time on the court with mixed form since losing in the final of the Australian Open to Federer in January, has been paired with Richard Gasquet, another home favourite and former world No 7, in arguably the most attractive tie from the opening pairings.
The Frenchman has fallen to 68th in the world after missing much of 2009 serving a drugs ban, for which he was later found to have been innocent of the charge. Gasquet is a formidable opponent with strong groundstrokes, but going in Murray's favour is the fact that clay is not Gasquet's strongest surface.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
Everybody%20Loves%20Touda
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Book%20Details
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Scoreline:
Manchester City 1
Jesus 4'
Brighton 0
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
ANATOMY%20OF%20A%20FALL
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The biog:
Favourite book: The Leader Who Had No Title by Robin Sharma
Pet Peeve: Racism
Proudest moment: Graduating from Sorbonne
What puts her off: Dishonesty in all its forms
Happiest period in her life: The beginning of her 30s
Favourite movie: "I have two. The Pursuit of Happiness and Homeless to Harvard"
Role model: Everyone. A child can be my role model
Slogan: The queen of peace, love and positive energy
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETamer%20Ruggli%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENadine%20Labaki%2C%20Fanny%20Ardant%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company%20Profile
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Director: Shady Ali
Cast: Boumi Fouad , Mohamed Tharout and Hisham Ismael
Rating: 3/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Women%E2%80%99s%20Asia%20Cup
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City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20TV%204K%20(THIRD%20GENERATION)
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Team Angel Wolf Beach Blast takes place every Wednesday between 4:30pm and 5:30pm
The%20specs
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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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.”