Stuttgart, Germany // Roger Federer's return to action lasted just 20 minutes on Wednesday when heavy rain led to an overnight suspension of his opening Stuttgart ATP grasscourt clash against American teenager Taylor Fritz.
Federer was 4-3 ahead when action was halted for the day.
The massive rain dump, which lasted for up to an hour, prevented any more play on the lawns of the Wesissenhof Club before the 34-year-old raced off to a waiting car with security in his wake after tweeting news of the day’s cancellation.
“Unfortunately we can’t play today anymore, too much of this stuff ???????????? See you tomorrow @MercedesCup,” the top seed wrote.
Federer was a break up against his 18-year-old opponent with whom he trained last summer at Wimbledon.
The Swiss veteran was playing for the first time since losing a May 12 match against Dominic Thiem in Rome with a back injury then ruling him out of the French Open.
Federer last competed in Stuttgart a decade and a half ago when it was a Masters event and played indoors.
Fritz is making his debut at the German venue and has never beaten a top 10 player (0-2).
The Thursday programme will feature Federer and Fritz resuming and second seed Marin Cilic, one of three Grand Slam champions in the field along with Federer and Juan Martin del Potro, opening against qualifier Radek Stepanek.
Only two matches were completed on Wednesday before the heavy weather moved in.
German seventh seed Philipp Kohlschreiber enjoyed a 7-5, 6-3 win over Denis Kudla while compatriot Florian Mayer reached the last eight of a tournament for the first time in a year, beating another German, Michael Berrer 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Wimbledon doubt as no date yet for Rafa Nadal return
Rafael Nadal's participation at Wimbledon was cast into further doubt on Wednesday when his uncle and coach Toni Nadal said there is no fixed date for the Spaniard's return from a wrist injury.
The former world number one and 14-time Grand Slam title winner pulled out of the French Open after two rounds when he suffered a tendon injury in his wrist.
“He is in the phase of rehabilitation. We haven’t fixed a date for his return because the important thing is that he returns at full strength,” said Toni Nadal at a promotional event.
“We also don’t want to put in danger his participation in the Olympic Games.”
Toni added: “(Rafa) will return when the doctors are convinced that all is going well. He won’t play unless he’s 100 percent.”
Wimbledon, where Nadal has twice been a champion, gets under way on June 27.
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The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
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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.”
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