Novak Djokovic differs with Federer over the love for slopes

Skiing worth the risk

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer both love skiing, but while the Swiss would like to wait till the end of his tennis career to pursue that sport, the world No 1 makes sure there are no clause in any of his endorsement deals that would prevent him from going downhill on snow-covered slopes. "I always try to condition my endorsement deals not to forbid me to ski," said Djokovic, who went skiing with his friends and family during the break he took after his Australian Open triumph. "I am in love with skiing, not crazy skiing."

Federer, however, thinks differently and he said: "Some people need these other sports to feel ready to go for tennis, I don't. I would love to, but tennis is just too important for me to get injured somewhere else."

Proud to be a Serbian

Djokovic has five grand slam trophies at home and plenty of other medals, but his proudest is the one he got recently for his service to the nation. The world No 1 was bestowed Serbia's top honour, the Order of the Karadjordje's Star of the 1st Degree, recently and he said: "I have been very flattered to receive the Serbian award. It is incredibly meaningful for me because it comes from my people. It has not much to do with my tennis, but with my patriotism and love of my country, the way I represent it in the world. There are very few awards that you receive throughout your life for your work off the court. So this is one of them and I am very grateful."

Fish gets the 'fright'

Ranked eighth in the world now, Mardy Fish is the United States' top tennis player and has played against some of the sports' greatest in his 12 years on the circuit, but the American swears he has not faced a bigger server than the man who beat him in Marseille last week, Albano Olivetti.

"That guy, I was frightened at time with his serve that I played last week," said Fish, who cruised through his opening round match against Andreas Beck 6-1, 6-1 yesterday. "He hit me with a couple serves and that guy had the hardest, the fastest serve that I've ever played against. I mean, he almost broke my left wrist on the first second serve he hit."

Marko's upper hand

Djokovic is the boss of men's tennis, but his younger brother Marko claims to have the edge when it comes to pitting their skills on PlayStation. "He's my brother and always the things we do in life - playing PlayStation, football, basketball, all these things - you're trying to see who's better. There it doesn't matter if he's No 1. I'm more into technology. Football, I can't say [I can beat him]. Maybe he's going to get angry, but yeah I beat him at PlayStation."

Kids raise a racket

More than a 1,000 schoolchildren from around the Gulf kicked-off the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships yesterday, with a few lucky ones getting to hit balls with the tournament's No 2 doubles pair of Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau.

"We had a great response to the Dubai Duty Free Kid's Day which launched the women's week last Monday, and it is fantastic to see so many children here as we celebrate 20 years of the men's tournament in Dubai," said Colm McLoughlin, executive vice chairman of Dubai Duty Free, the tournament owners and organisers. Salah Tahlak, the tournament director, said: "With 1,000 children here, it proves how popular tennis is in the Middle East. Opportunities for these youngsters such as the one today ensures that the future of the sport is bright."

Euro 2020

Group A: Italy, Switzerland, Wales, Turkey

Group B: Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Finland

Group C: Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria,
Georgia/Kosovo/Belarus/North Macedonia

Group D: England, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Scotland/Israel/Norway/Serbia

Group E: Spain, Poland, Sweden,
N.Ireland/Bosnia/Slovakia/Ireland

Group F: Germany, France, Portugal,
Iceland/Romania/Bulgaria/Hungary

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

Teaching your child to save

Pre-school (three - five years)

You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.

Early childhood (six - eight years)

Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.

Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)

Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.

Young teens (12 - 14 years)

Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.

Teenage (15 - 18 years)

Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.

Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)

Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.

* JP Morgan Private Bank

The Bio

Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”

Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”

Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”

Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”

'Worse than a prison sentence'

Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.

“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.

“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.

“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.

“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.

“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”

Analysis

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