Emil Ruusuvuori secured Finland’s first match win in history in the men’s Davis Cup group stage.
In Finnish Emil Ruusuvuori defeated Croatia in the battle of the number one players Borna Gojon 7–6 (7–3), 6–4. Earlier on Friday Otto Virtanen was better in the second players’ match than the home team’s Dino Prizmic.
Finland’s 2–0 lead cannot be lost anymore, as there is only a doubles match left. Although Finland is playing in the final tournament for the first time, it has every chance to advance from the initial group in Croatia.
Although Ruusuvuuori’s opponent Gojo had hit the tournament of his life in the US Open, Finland’s number one player punished the Croatian with his basic game.
Gojo tried to settle points quickly, which suits Ruusuvuori much better than long ball rallies. The hosts will be disappointed that it doesn’t Borna Coricwho is 26th in the singles list, was able to play.
Finland will advance to the top eight if it defeats the 32-time Davis Cup winner, the United States, on Saturday. The pre-favorite USA has played in the bottom corner and unexpectedly lost to the Netherlands on Thursday.
Tennis is one of the most lucrative sports in the world, so Finland’s success is also economically significant. The Davis Cup has not published an official prize distribution, but has announced the size of the pot at 15 million dollars.
Chairman of the Finnish Tennis Association Teemu Purho estimates for HS that the association will receive approximately 200,000 euros from the group stage of the final tournament.
A rare treat
Virtanen again gave his team a dream start. He continued against the 18-year-old Prizmic of the host country from where he had left off in the match against Holland on Tuesday.
However, the young men’s struggle lasted more than two and a half hours. Virtanen, 22, loaded three aces into the last serving turn and sealed the final scores 6–4, 3–6, 6–3.
– A rare treat, when for this week, another win and another game, he rejoiced on Tennisliito’s Instagram feed.
Prizmic was a disgusting opponent for Virtanes because the Croatian focused on defending. The talent of the young mass specialist is highlighted by the French open boys’ singles championship from this summer.
According to the statistics service, Virtanen made no less than 44 easy mistakes and the number one passes hit with only 59 percent accuracy. His good times lasted just long enough.