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.
At the beginning of February, the biggest match in the history of the Finnish national tennis teams will be played in Turku, says the communications and marketing director of the tennis association Jarno Tiusanen.
The first match of the men’s national team’s Davis Cup season against Portugal is almost sold out. In Turku, two singles matches will be played on Friday and a doubles match and 1–2 singles matches on Saturday.
The daily audience capacity of Turkuhalli is 8,300. So far, a total of almost 13,000 tickets have been sold for the two days.
– The season probably couldn’t start from a better starting point. Davis Cup match places are drawn. In the last seven draws, Finland has won a home match six times. There has been luck involved, but also decisions that we want to do big, great events, Tiusanen says.
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.
The previous audience record for the national tennis teams is from February of last year. 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.
At that time, Finland beat Argentina 3–1 and advanced to the finals of the Davis Cup for the first time.
According to Tiusanen, the association has done a lot of work to ensure that top tennis and the consumption of tennis take the next step. Tiusanen says that everything starts from club activities, which have been active in Finland since 2015.
– Jarkon (The promontory) during the captaincy, our individuals have also developed. It feels like everything falls into place in a nice cycle, even in sync.
Gazelles won as a nickname
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.
The Finns’ passion for tennis was also visible on Independence Day at Linna’s party, where they thought about what would be a suitable nickname for the national tennis team. broadcasts a soccer player Teemu Pukki suggested the name Gazelles and the president Sauli Niinistö The squirrels.
In the aftermath of the castle’s celebrations, Urheilu asked its readers for their opinion on the nickname. The Gazelles were the clear winner. Squirrels came second, Tenaris third and Lynxes fourth.
– Lynxes. Not a prey animal! argued one voter.
– There are no gazelles in Finnish nature! stated another.
Hawks, Snowflakes, Beavers, Foxes and Hedgehogs received quite a lot of suggestions from outside the list.
– Snowmen. They are running from place to place, now here, just on the other side of the field.
– Foxes. In tennis, you also need tact, intelligence, insight when it comes to hitting. When stoppers or boundary shots.
The national tennis team commented on the vote to Urheilu at the Independence Day reception, when Harri Heliövaara as the team’s spokesperson, got excited about the Gazelles. The rap group Gazellit, on the other hand, joked Below Urheilu’s Instagram postthat they can in turn change their name to the Finnish national tennis team.
The association focuses on tennis
The announcement of the public’s favorite, however, was slow. Tiusanen of the Tennis Association says that a nickname has not been chosen yet.
– It was such a big drug then during the Linna celebrations. People probably sent us suggestions for a month and a half via e-mail and social media, says Tiusanen.
– In the end games, the team will make a decision, and they didn’t say that any of the (suggestions) were like “Hey, here we are.” The situation is that we have left it hanging and a nickname will be born if it is born.
According to Tiusanen, the association wants to focus on the core product and why people come to watch tennis in the first place. He says that the association has focused on storytelling in its marketing communications.
– Even in this drug, the fact is that nothing is born by forcing, and we don’t want to force this (nickname) either. Of course, if that name arises naturally, it can be useful in marketing, Tiusanen explains.
According to him, the association is grateful for the attention given by the public, and Tiusanen is especially happy for the Finnish tennis phenomenon.
– It is unbelievably wonderful that tennis has gained such a status in a relatively short time. Sure, success has been good in elite sports, but I want to emphasize that these things don’t happen by snapping your fingers.
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.