DUBAI // Time stops for no woman, yet when the woman in question is 33 years old and enjoying a renaissance in her chosen profession after a three-year battle with incurable illness, perhaps joy can be found in watching the future arrive on the face of a watch.
Venus Williams, the venerated American who was diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome in 2011, overpowered Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-0 on Saturday night at the Aviation Club to secure her first Premier-level title since her victory here in 2010. The victory sees her become only the second female after Justine Henin to win at least three titles at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
In celebration, Williams revealed she was flying home immediately and would, at Dubai airport, be on the look out for a new watch – a splurge she can surely afford after collecting a winner’s cheque for $471,841 (Dh1.7m).
“Usually I look at watches, so I don’t know what it’s going to be,” she said, smiling. “We’ll see – I love the watch with the calculator.”
If she is looking for some gentle arithmetic, she could do worse than consider a few figures from her final:
15: The number of rankings places she will rise (from No 44 to No 29) after beating Cornet.
11: The number of games from 12 that she won against Cornet after being broken in the third game.
83: The percentage of break points she saved (five from six).
Williams’s victory also takes her winning streak at the Aviation Club to 15 consecutive matches after triumphing at successive tournaments in 2009 and 2010 before skipping the next three while fighting her fatigue-inducing illness.
“When things got tough this week, I definitely got going,” Williams, who also reached the final in Auckland last month, said.
“If I was down break point, when push came to shove, I was pushing and shoving. But I think I just improved so much. I’m playing bigger points and converting. That’s what I needed to be able to do. That takes time for any player; took time for me to continue to learn how to do that, put myself in the position and then finally start getting across the finish line.”
Both players came into the final having not dropped a set all week, with Cornet beating Williams's sister Serena, the world No 1, in the semi-finals the previous day. Venus spoke of the motivation she takes from an opponent beating her sister and mentioned twice post-match that she had been "definitely fully expecting to play Serena".
Yet an intense start by Cornet saw the two players contend engrossing rallies before Cornet broke to take a 2-1 lead. The French right-hander, however, could not hold serve in the next game and an ineffective drop shot in the seventh allowed Williams to power her way to a 5-2 lead. The seven-time grand slam winner never looked back.
Such was the comprehensive result of the second set, Cornet appeared to break down in tears mid-match, an emotional moment she attributed to her inability to take advantage of, first, her first-set lead, and, second, the two break points she had in the fourth game of the second set.
“Alize is playing great,” Williams said. “If she continues to play like that, she’s going to play deep in a lot of tournaments and improve. It’s great to see that, because she’s a great addition to the game. She brings so much passion on the court, so it’s great to see her playing well.”
With the French Open still three months away, Williams is not looking too far into the future. She is taking things slowly, one day at a time, and looking to become a better player for it.
“Winning all those grand slam titles and playing deep and getting to the final so many times, those are amazing accomplishments,” she said.
“It takes a lot of nerve, a lot of mental prowess, so I’d like to think I’m on that path. I’m not looking to do anything I did in the past though, because I already did that. I’m looking to improve and be a better, smarter Venus. Obviously this week is a step; every week for me is a step.”
Rodionova and Kudryavtseva win women’s doubes final after tie-breaker
Anastasia Rodionova and Alla Kudryavtseva prevailed in tense match tie-break to down the American pair of Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears for the doubles title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday.
Having won the first set 6-2, the Australian-Russian pair were edged 7-5 in the second and faced a stiff resistance from the Americans, who saved two match-points in the tie-break before losing 10-8.
“It’s not like it’s gonna happen every week, but it’s already our second title this year, and I’m really happy with the way we both are playing on the court,” Rodionova said.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
It's Monty Python's Crashing Rocket Circus
To the theme tune of the famous zany British comedy TV show, SpaceX has shown exactly what can go wrong when you try to land a rocket.
The two minute video posted on YouTube is a compilation of crashes and explosion as the company, created by billionaire Elon Musk, refined the technique of reusable space flight.
SpaceX is able to land its rockets on land once they have completed the first stage of their mission, and is able to resuse them multiple times - a first for space flight.
But as the video, How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster, demonstrates, it was a case if you fail, try and try again.
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
RESULTS
5pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Purebred Arabian Cup Conditions (PA) Dh 200,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Cup Conditions (PA) Dh 200,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Winked, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Cup Listed (TB) Dh 380,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Boerhan, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
6.30pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Group 3 (PA) Dh 500,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Jewel Crown Group 1 (PA) Dh 5,000,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Messi, Pat Dobbs, Timo Keersmaekers
7.30pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Handicap (PA) Dh 150,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
8pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Alareeq, Connor Beasley, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
Company%20Profile
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Traits of Chinese zodiac animals
Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent
Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
Engine 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, AWD
Power 249hp at 5,500rpm
Torque 365Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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)
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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
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Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
