Tennis

Andy Murray pulls out of Dubai tournament because of wrist injury

Andy Murray, the world's No 5, has pulled out of the Dubai Duty Free Championships but the organisers are sure the return of Roger Federer will ensure the event is a big success.

Ahmed Rizvi

February 17, 2011

DUBAI // Andy Murray's decision to pull out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships has come as a big disappointment for the organisers, but they are confident of an exciting tournament with Roger Federer returning after two years away.

Murray, who lost the Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic and was beaten by Marcos Baghdatis in Rotterdam last week, pulled out yesterday, citing a wrist injury.

"Andy would like to apologise to both the tournament and its fans," a statement on his website said. The Briton, who is ranked No 5 in the world, faced criticism in Dubai last year after saying that he was using the tournament to experiment with his game.

In a first-round defeat to Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic, he kept charging the net at virtually every point and tried some impossible shots.

"Yes it is disappointing, but then not so much," said Salah Tahlak, the tournament director. "Last year he was here and he was not well.

"As a tournament, we do invest a lot of money in the promotion of the tournament, for both the men and women. We spend a lot of money, including on the banners that you see all around the stadium. It is all done for the players.

"So yes it is disappointing for the tournament and the fans as well. They buy tickets to come and watch these players.

"A lot of people come to watch, say, Roger Federer. Many of them will come to watch Novak Djokovic. Similarly a lot of people must have bought tickets to watch Andy. There is a big British expatriate community here so they will surely be upset and disappointed.

"It is easy for them to just say they have some injury and pull out. But for the tournament and the fans, there is a lot of disappointment.

"Anyway, we have other top players. We have Federer [the world No 1] and Djokovic [the world No 3], and we have a lot of other top players.

"So we are looking forward to an exciting tournament, especially with Federer returning

"He missed the last two years, so it will be great to have him back. He won here for three years in a row. I am sure he will also be looking forward to getting his title back."

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● Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

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Shabab Al Ahli Dubai 0 Al Ain 6
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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.

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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.

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“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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  • It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
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  • It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
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  • Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
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Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

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