Stayed out of the public eye Emil Ruusuvuori is slowly returning to the playing fields and in front of the public. The 25-year-old tennis professional took a break from playing in September, citing mental and physical overload as the reason.
The announcement came in the form of a press release, and Ruusuvuori has only agreed to interview requests this week.
He said that he was surprised how much his situation has interested people.
– No matter the place, the amount of interest has been strong. But the approach has been really friendly and good-natured.
Ruusuvuori revealed to Urheilu the events and challenges of the past season only a little, but said that he is working on his well-being with the help of psychological professionals.
A bigger downturn in his everyday life began last May around the time of the French Open tennis tournament. He had physical injuries at the time, but also mental ones.
– They quite often go hand in hand. If the whole package is not quite in the glove, then the body also tells itself off more sensitively.
Traveling the world has not been a great treat for Ruusuvuori. The life of a tennis professional consists of traveling and living in hotels almost all year round.
The intention is to make changes to everyday life and tour life, so that Ruusuvuori would no longer drift into exhaustion. Physically, he is now in good shape and the back that bothered him earlier is also better.
However, Ruusuvuori is aware that there is still a lot of work to be done in order for his body to withstand weekly tournament play.
– The biggest thing is that playing and hitting the ball is fun. Of course, it can’t always be fun, no job is, but as a general rule it would be fun to go to the gym, go to train and travel.
Kontinen is not just a coach
Ruusuvuori and who coached him for years by Federico Ricci parted ways in the summer.
According to Ruusuvuori, there was no drama involved in the end of the cooperation, but the relationship is still warm.
However, Ricci was a coach who held the palette perhaps even too closely. Ruusuvuori has now learned to take the reins more into his own hands, and it has been a place of growth for him.
Ruusuvuori has acquired the former world number one in doubles to replace the Italian Henri Kontinenwhich also works Jarkko Nieminen coaching help in the Finnish Davis Cup national team.
Kontinen’s knowledge of tennis has impressed Ruusuvuuori, even though he does not have much experience in coaching.
– He’s a bit of a person who hangs around there in the shadows, but you can get a lot out of his tips. His tennis knowledge is at an exceptional level. You rarely see that in the world. It’s easy to rely on.
The reason behind the hiring of the former doubles star is above all Finnishness and the friendship between the duo. Kontinen is not just a coach for Ruusuvuori, but someone to hang out with outside the tennis courts as well.
– The purpose would be for me to have as much fun as possible outside the field. There would be stimulation, other things, a counterweight to playing. It also helps that I can speak my mother tongue.
According to Ruusuvuori, another, experienced person who could “run the circus” is also being considered for coaching. Nets have been cast, but there is still nothing to say about it.
Return in February at the earliest
Ruusuvuori plans to return to the playing fields in February. The exact date or tournament has not been decided yet, but the Australian Open in January and the Davis Cup international match against Austria in early February will definitely be missed.
Ruusuvuori decided to adopt a so-called protected ranking ranking, which requires a break of at least six months due to illness or injury.
Although Ruusuvuori played his last match on July 31, ATP announced that six months will not be completed until February 3.
Ruusuvuori himself is not sure why this was done, but guesses that the reason is that he had signed up for the next week’s competition in Montreal, where he did not play.
Ruusuvuori admits that the Davis Cup games would have interested him.
– If I had been asked that a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn’t have been able to answer. Now, if there was a chance, I would have gladly started playing it. But here we go, what is.
The ball already obeys surprisingly well
During his break, Ruusuvuori hasn’t touched the tennis racket much, actually only once with his girlfriend. However, he played padel more closely, and that has helped him in his return to the training courts.
Last week Ruusuvuori hit the tennis ball properly for the first time and played Patrik Niklas-Salminen with Meilahti bubble hall.
He wanted to start in a place where there were guaranteed to be no other players watching them.
– It’s been fun. Maybe it’s the fact that the padel racket has remained active, so playing hasn’t been so difficult. Now, after a week, moving around and everything else feels really good. The ball already obeys surprisingly well.