Eight match points were not enough – Heliövaara and Glasspool bowed out in the tight final of the Croatian ATP: “One of the worst defeats”

Finland Harri Heliövaara suffered his British counterpart by Lloyd Glasspool with a loss in the men’s ATP 250 doubles final in Umag, Croatia early on Sunday. The Italians celebrate the victory Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini.

The number one ranked Italian pair won the tight match 5–7, 7–6, 10–7.

– It was a very special match in the final. It’s definitely one of the worst defeats I’ve ever suffered in my career, Heliövaara told STT after the match.

Heliövaara and Glasspool had a total of eight match points in the final.

– You would think that some of them would turn on themselves. But it didn’t turn around, even though a lot of right things were done in them. Tennis is sometimes about the little things.

Heliövaara and Glasspool were placed third in Umag. Heliövaara described the Italian pair as reaching “some kind of ecstasy” during the match.

– Then it’s hard to get back up, he reflected on his own game.

A week ago on Sunday, Heliövaara and Glasspool won the ATP tournament in Hamburg, which was their first tournament victory in ATP500 level competitions. The race in Umag was ATP250 level, i.e. a slightly smaller tournament.

– Of course, this was a place in the final for us, there’s nothing wrong with that. And after last week’s race win, we managed to go to the finals here as well, but that doesn’t change the fact that such losses are quite deep, Heliövaara stated.

The Umag final was already the fifth of the year for Heliövaara and Glasspool, the first three ended in narrow losses.

The Croatian competition was the last tournament of the European summer season for Heliövaara. In a week, he and Glaspool have the Montreal ATP Masters tournament ahead of them.

– Yes, this was a really good couple of weeks, and we’ve actually had a really good last three months. We have progressed tremendously and have been able to play at a high level against anyone in the world.

Heliövaara says that he is especially happy that the game has gone well even on mass fields.

– Yes, it’s sweet to be able to play ATP and big tournaments (in North America) in August. The buns are well baked.

For example, there is the US Open tennis tournament starting at the end of August, which is the last grand slam tournament of the season.

– Now when we go to America and on hard courts and get to play, for example, Masters 1000-level tournaments for the first time properly prepared, it’s an opportunity that we really look forward to, says Heliövaara.

– Expectations have risen after the recent good performances, we have been ranked a couple in the US Open and quite close in the Masters, so we are excited to leave. I believe that if we continue at the same level as the previous three months, we can expect very good results from there in America.

Heliövaara has won three ATP doubles championships, including two with Glasspool.

At the moment, Heliövaara, 33, is ranked 25th in the world doubles rankings, and 28-year-old Glasspool can be found at 34th.