Harri Heliövaara and Henry Patten, who celebrated the Wimbledon doubles championship in July, had to concede victory in their opening match of the ATP tennis tournament in Montreal.
6.8. 22:10•Updated 6.8. 23:48
Noise hazard and Henry Patten bumped into each other in the tiebreak of the opening set when they were chasing the same ball. After this, Heliövaara stayed on the surface of the field for a while, but continued the match.
When the match was stopped, Heliövaara and Patten were down 0–1. Kazakh Alexander Bublik and American Ben Shelton took the opening set 7–6 (8-6) and advanced to the second round with the surrender. The second set was interrupted with Heliövaara and Patten losing 1–2.
– We unfortunately hit our heads together in the tiebreak of the first set, but we tried to continue the match. However, both felt worse, so it was concluded that it was not worth continuing and taking unnecessary risks.
– The doctors have now been discussed, and there shouldn’t be anything more serious than that. However, you have to wait a few days, comments Heliövaara to Urheilu.
The Finnish-British couple entered the tournament ranked eighth. They are scheduled to participate in the Cincinnati tournament of the ATP tour next week, after which the last prestigious tournament of the season, the US Open, is ahead.
At 23:49 Heliövaara’s comments were added to the story and title.