The Finnish team’s Davis Cup qualifiers start in Turku on the 2nd-3rd. February, when Finland meets Portugal. will show all the Davis Cup 2024 matches of the Finnish team on its channels.
The national tennis team has played its home matches in Espoo since 2019, but when the booking situation did not allow playing in the capital region, a new venue was chosen in Turku.
The Davis Cup qualifying match was last held in Turku in 2002. Finland and Portugal have met in tennis twice before: in 1968 Finland won, but in 2015 the Portuguese team was stronger.
On Friday, starting at 5:30 p.m., there will be two singles matches, where the number one players of the countries will meet the number two players.
Finland’s second player starting according to the match program Otto Virtanen had a hard time last week when he unfortunately rolled his ankle, whose final condition and durability will only be known in the next two days.
– Kondis is ok. There was a bit of an injury last week, nothing more. However, I have been playing quite a lot on the field. We have a good background team that makes sure I get to play. A lot of care and side training, explained Virtanen to .
Finland has been lucky in the Davis Cup draws, as it has often received home court advantage in the qualifiers. Since September 2019, Finland has faced Austria, India, Belgium, New Zealand, Argentina and now Portugal at home. Only the 2020 Mexico match has been played away, when tournament events are not counted.
– After all, it’s a really big advantage, and all the players enjoy being together in their home country for an extra week. It’s always a big bonus for us who travel the world, Virtanen points out.
Opposing Otto Virtanen is Portugal’s number one player, in a good mood Nuno Borges immediately on Friday.
– Quite a familiar guy, even outside the playing field. I have practiced a lot with him and played against him once. Is a good player, as seen in the last month when he has taken some hard wins and played really well in Australia last time. The Top-50 ranking says quite a lot about him, says Virtanen on Thursday evening.
Borges is currently at the peak of his tennis career
Borges admits that he is playing the best tennis of his life right now.
He recently won three matches at the Australian Grand Slam and advanced to the last 16 before bowing out to world No. 3, who reached the final to Daniil Medvedev batch 3–6, 6–7, 7–5, 1–6.
– Last year was already a big success for me and a step forward in my career. The year 2024 then got off to a great start for me. I’m going to stick to this state of mind, but time will tell if I succeed.
In his own opinion, Borges knows the young Finnish team very well and has trained with Virtanen and also Emil Ruusuvuoren with a lot.
According to the latest information, a total of 13,300 tickets have been sold for the event – 6,100 for Friday and 7,200 for Saturday. The capacity of the arena is approximately 8,300.
Finland’s audience records will therefore be set handsomely. The previous audience record for the national tennis teams is from February last year, when there were 9,500 spectators at the national match in Espoo over two days. At the same time, the team recorded its daily record of 5,200 spectators.
– The game platform of the Turku indoor hall is not a new familiarity, and we have had enough time to get used to it. Maybe Finland is a slight early favorite because they have had good experiences as a team and they are playing in front of their home crowd. However, I know that we can win here if we play our top tennis, insists Borges.
Finland’s five-man national team consists of Emil Ruusuvuori, Otto Virtanen, Harri Heliövaara, Patrik Niklas-Salminen and Eero Vasa. Vasa replaced the injured in the team Patrick Kaukovaltan. Serves as captain Jarkko Nieminen.
In addition to Nuno Borges, Portugal’s ranks include João Sousa, Henrique Rocha, Gastao Elias and Francisco Cabral.
– A long-awaited line-up from Portugal. As for the opening day, it can be said that the opponents have two really tough and consistent backcourt players. Borges is definitely aiming for a place near the back line, and doesn’t like to play if he has to back up further. Sousa, on the other hand, can also play further and is tenacious and skillfully versatile in his shots, analyzes captain Nieminen.
The national men’s tennis team had a great success last year when they reached the semi-finals of the Davis Cup. The Finns followed the team’s performances both in the home stands and on the spot in Malaga, Spain. In mid-November, there were more than 5,000 Finns at Malaga’s stadium. Due to the successes, the Davis Cup team was awarded as the model of the year and as the team of the year at the Sports Gala on January 11.