Emil Ruusuvuori last won a match in February. Injuries and illnesses have messed up Ruusuvuori’s spring.
18:03•Updated 18:05
Finland’s number one tennis player Emil Ruusuvuori started the year 2024 excellently.
In the first week of the year in Hong Kong, Rosuvuori advanced to the second ATP final of his career. In the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, the Australian Open, the Helsinki native led the third placed Daniil Medvedev 2-0 and was two balls away from victory. In the end, Medvedev came close to winning the entire tournament, but lost a two-set lead in the final itself For Jannik Sinner.
In the Davis Cup in Turku, Ruusuvuori took convincing victories against Portugal in singles and doubles. In Marseille, there was one slightly quieter tournament, but in Rotterdam he went to the quarterfinals.
In Doha at the end of February, Ruusuvuori won two matches, but gave up the quarterfinals right at the beginning due to lower back problems. And that was the end of the winning streak. Since then, Ruusuvuori has not won a single match.
There have been six consecutive losses, including the handover of Doha. So five first round losses, including one in the Challenger tournament. When Ruusuvuori has also taken a couple of game breaks, the winless period is long.
A cycle of problems
What has happened? Are back problems still bothering you? Rosuvuori’s coach Federico Ricci answers questions about his protégé by email.
– The beginning of the year was really good. “Unfortunately, after Doha, there was a cycle that has made the last two months very challenging physically and mentally,” Ricci stated.
According to Ricci, Ruusuvuori has had many challenges during this time: virus, flu, latent injuries that have required “a high level of medical attention”. Even last fall, Ruusuvuori missed a lot of tournaments due to illness. Now Ricci says that hopefully sustainable solutions to the problems have been found.
Due to all the problems, training has been focused on physics and getting the physical condition to the top level again. Ruusuvuori opened his mass season at the Madrid Masters, where he lost in three sets to an up-and-coming Czech player To Tomas Machac.
– Madrid was just a test. We hoped that he would be able to play a whole match in the high air with hard shots. The result was positive, a little stiffness in the back, but no big pain.
Next, Ruusuvuori played in the Challenger tournament in France. There, the body reacted to a new kind of strain, but there were no major pains there either.
“Everything is going in the right direction”
Ruusuvuori last played in the Rome Masters, where he was already in a strong lead, but lost the USA For Marcos Giron.
– In Rome, the pieces started to fall into place. Health was good and movement started to be smoother. Everything is going in the right direction, but it takes time, especially on a platform that requires more thinking and movement, Ricci said.
– The body is finally fine now. Mentally, it has not been easy to come back twice in two months. But fortunately, Emil is already experienced in that matter and can trust that he will succeed in it again.
Ricci also reminds us that the level on the ATP tour today is very tough in all respects.
– There are experienced players and hungry youngsters. There are no big technical weaknesses like some years ago. All are very fit and hard to fight. It’s not easy to get any wins on the ATP tour if you’re not in top shape.
This week Ruusuvuori plays in the Challenger tournament in Turin. The second Grand Slam tournament of the season, the French Open, is already just under two weeks away. Ruusuvuori’s ranking is now 71. At its best, it was 37.
If the health problems stay away, the result can be expected again in the future. There has been a lot of evidence from Ruusuvuori that when everything is in order, even the world’s top players can fall.