Finland defeated the reigning champion Canada in the tennis Davis Cup on Tuesday. The pictures tell how the historic tennis night progressed.
Riku Porvari,
Janne Karinkanta
shows all the matches in Finland and the final match of the tennis Davis Cup final tournament from Malaga. On Friday, Finland will face the Czech Republic and Australia in the semi-final for the winner of the pair.
The Finnish national tennis team’s historic night at the Davis Cup final tournament started with bad news. Team captain Jarkko Nieminen said before the quarter-final match against Canada that Finland’s number one player Emil Ruusuvuori not playing due to injury.
He was replaced Patrick from Kaukovawho had not previously played singles in the Davis Cup.
– Patrick is ready. Everything that is in our own hands has been prepared as well as possible, Nieminen said before the match.
Kaukovalta played Canada in the opening match Milos Raonic against. Raonic has currently been ranked third in the world in 2016. In the same year, he played, for example, in the Wimbledon final.
Raonic won the first singles game of the evening over Kaukovalta in two sets 6–3, 7–5. The experienced Canadian disciplined the Finnish player, especially with his strong passing game. Raonic hit 18 aces, but Kaukovalta’s 11 aces hardly pales in comparison.
– It was quite a feeding clinic, and I couldn’t get hold of returns at all. I then had more pressure to keep my serves, Kaukovalt said after the match.
Canada took a 1–0 lead in the matches. Next was the second singles match, i.e. the match between the countries’ number one ranked players. That’s where they met Finland Otto Virtanen and Canada Gabriel Diallo. Virtanen had to win that match so that Finland could still play for the semifinal spot in the doubles.
Virtanen started the second singles game well, but in the opening set he fell into mistakes. The Finn recorded 14 easy mistakes, while the Canadian had eight of them. However, Virtanen’s strong serving game kept him in the game and he won the first set 6–4.
The second set proceeded in shifts. Canada’s Diallo’s serving shift started the set, so the progression of the game was theoretically under his command. Virtanen was able to try three times to break the Canadian’s passing shift without success.
In the end, Virtanen caught the break, took a 6–5 lead and was able to serve the match point, and he didn’t hesitate. Virtanen served 14 aces in the match, eight of them in the second set. So he ended the match the way it deserved: a through pass and a 7–5 set win.
Finland had equalized with match wins to 1–1.
After the victory, it was reported that Virtanen will also be seen on the court in doubles together Harri Heliövaaran with. Virtanen replaced Niklas Patrik-Salminenwhich was named as Heliövaara’s pair before the national match.
– Maybe Jarkko (Nieminen) trusts me. It gives me more self-confidence, Virtanen commented on the choice before the start of the doubles match.
The doubles game started as expected. Finland was successful with its own serving shifts and in the fourth game Virtanen broke Canada’s serving shift.
However, Canada remained involved. Vasek Pospisil was able to pass from the equalizer when Finland was leading 6–5. This time, Heliövaara shined in the break situation, who secured Finland’s 7–5 set win with his wonderful performances.
Virtanen played strongly in the opening set as well, but the second set was a show of the 22-year-old Finnish player. First, Virtanen knocked three consecutive through passes in a “back against the wall” situation and gave Finland a 3–2 lead.
A few games later, Virtanen turned the game around for Finland when he broke Canada’s passing shift. Finland took a 5–3 lead, and Virtanen was able to decide the match with his own pass shift.
Virtanen’s serving hand was not tired, but he gave Finland a 6–3 set win and took the team to the semi-finals with a 2–1 match win.
The Finnish team was able to celebrate its victory in Malaga with an estimated 5,000–6,000 Finnish supporters.
– This does not improve the tennis player’s feelings much. We play historic matches one after the other. Otto Virtanen takes two matches and I also played a good game, Heliövaara described the victory rocket.
shows all the matches in Finland and the final match of the tennis Davis Cup final tournament from Malaga. On Friday, Finland will face the Czech Republic and Australia in the semi-final for the winner of the pair.