Jarkko Nieminen and his partners offered Finnish sports fans something that will probably never be seen again, writes Janne Karinkanta.
Janne Karinkanta sports reporter
MALAGA. For the reader’s information: This text does not remind us that the Davis Cup of tennis is no longer what it might have been in the 80s or 90s. In this text, the reader is also not reminded that the world’s best ice hockey players are hardly seen at the Lätäki World Championships.
Or because Fifa has ruined football, cross-country skiing is a marginal sport, and even basketball’s international competitions are boringly dominated by the United States, if only NBA stars were interested.
We don’t think like that here, no.
Now let’s focus on tennis and today. Or actually until yesterday, i.e. Friday.
You may have read, or even seen live on television, when the Finnish men’s national tennis team achieved unprecedented success this fall.
On Friday, Finland historically played in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup.
After all, it was a loss, but you shouldn’t put your head in a bag. Not even there.
Let’s quickly recap the events of Friday night in Malaga.
Finland faced the 28-time champion Australia in the semifinals of the tennis Davis Cup. The fate began to be clear about an hour before by Alex de Minaur match ball Emil Ruusuvuorta against.
Suffering from a shoulder injury, Ruusuvuori had started the must-win match surprisingly well. A pass break right at the start and a 2–0 lead in the opening set.
Then the shoulder started to slow down the progress of the Finnish ace. He was unable to hold his own serving shifts, and de Minaur roared to a 5–2 lead. It seemed clear at that point.
In these roughs, you won’t win if the pass lacks “kilos”, as Ruusuvuori put it.
Otto Virtanen had previously lost his own match To Alexei Popyrinand when de Minaur completed the 2–0 victory over Ruusuvuori, the Australians’ place in the final was sealed.
The passionate captain of the Australian team, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt, was smiling at the post-match press conference. The former world number one reportedly enjoys silencing loud audiences.
I didn’t notice if Hewitt had already left the side of the bunker at that point, when thousands of Finns who traveled to Malaga showed their popularity by standing, dancing, singing, shouting, downright screaming Jarkko Nieminen for the skippered Davis Cup team.
The team that made Finnish sports history bowed in the middle of the field and thanked the blue and white crowd, which had become a phenomenon, for the unprecedented encouragement.
So the Finnish audience didn’t really quiet down. It lived alongside and supported the national team until the end, and even after that.
Who would have believed?
Finland was therefore among the top four countries in tennis’ Davis Cup.
Tennis!
Even a year ago, such a sentence could not even be imagined. Six months ago it would have sounded absolutely ridiculous. Three months ago from a kiss.
But when leaving for Malaga, even the slightly more experienced tennis guys talked about Finland’s chances of winning the Davis Cup.
I remember thinking at the time that huh?
Davis Cup?
Tennis Davis Cup?
Finland?
What the hell happened this year?
After the loss against Australia, the overriding feeling on Friday night was, of course, disappointment. But already on Saturday, Finland’s Davis Cup sky should be remembered as a great Finnish sporting achievement.
In the future, it might even feel like something much bigger.
The Finnish team is of course still young. The best years of Ruusuvuori and Virtanen in particular are probably still ahead.
It is true that the stars aligned for Finland this year. The team overachieved, there was also luck on the way, and the margins were also favorable for Finland.
This kind of success may never be achieved again even with over-performance. Not even if both Ruusuvuori and Virtanen and maybe someone else would reach the top of the world.
What Jarkko Nieminen, Otto Virtanen, Emil Ruusuvuori, Harri Heliövaara, Patrick from Kaukova and Patrik Niklas-Salminen this year they did, it’s really damn hard.