Harri Heliövaara lavishly praised his partner Anna Danilina. The couple’s collaboration is likely to continue.
Harri Heliövaara it was Finnish time on Saturday evening with a party atmosphere.
He had just become a Grand Slam winner when the US Open mixed doubles final Anna Danilina with ended in victory. Austin Krajicek and Jessica Pegula fell 6–3, 6–4.
– I’m still a little amazed at what was done. A great match from us. Anna played the best performance of a female player during the entire competition. He was enthusiastic about his performances, Heliövaara stated.
– We broke the opponent’s male player in both sets. Although there was a slight dip in the second set, it didn’t bother us. It’s pretty nice for Filis to take home a Grand Slam win. Now let’s have a little party.
Heliövaara continued to praise his partner. They had never met Danilina before the tournament and found each other on a list looking for a pair for mixed doubles.
– Anna was incredibly strong from the beginning. We bonded well as a team, even though we didn’t know each other at all before the race. It was a blind date, but we both wanted to win. With his determination, he was able to move our team forward. He doesn’t hold back, he lets go.
For Heliövaara’s “second career”, the championship was the high point so far. He ended his career in 2013 and focused on his master’s degree in engineering.
– Personally, it’s a crazy thing, when you take into account that I didn’t play for almost five years. However, I decided to come back, and when you achieve something like this after that, you can at least say that I didn’t come back to tennis for nothing.
A big factor in Heliövaara’s return was the fact that he was the only Finn to previously win the adult Grand Slam tournament Henri Kontinenwho won the 2016 Wimbledon mixed doubles and the 2017 Australian Open doubles.
– It was around that time that I wondered if I should return. I looked up at Henkka to see if he could do it, should I try too. Pretty sweet that I got to join Henka as a Grand Slam winner.
There will probably be joint tournaments with Danilina.
– It would sound idiotic if I didn’t want to play with Anna again. However, we were the last ones to join. I have to take care of the ranking so that I can fit in. Shall we try?
The next challenge is coming to Heliövaara quickly. Finland’s historic tennis days continue when the men’s national team plays in the Davis Cup final tournament for the first time.
– I have to quickly shift my eyes to the Davis Cup, the first game is already on Tuesday. Good self-confidence rarely hurts the ability to play, Heliövaara finished.
Helövaara was interviewed by Helen Scott-Smith.