– Angry passes.
– Really angry.
Veera Selänten hard passes get From Andé Engström and Battery from Vikström heaps of praise when Veera plays her father Teemun with a doubles game against a duo.
There is an exhibition match in Siuntion Pickala. The local club’s 24-hour tennis marathon begins with this match.
The game is tight, but in the end the Seläntees win the tie-break 13–11 and the match 7–6.
– There was excitement. It was such a tight match. It’s a tough level today, Veera Selänne tells Urheilu.
– Playing felt great. It’s such a good weather. It was nice.
See in the video how the joint game of Seläntie came to be.
Professionalism as a dream
Veera Selänne, 15, dreams of becoming a professional tennis player. He has been practicing the sport purposefully with his father since the corona era.
– If I can train well and enjoy it, then I want to see how far I can get, Selänne says about her goals.
– The dream is to become a professional. Let’s see where I can get to.
According to Teemu Selänte, Veera has liked tennis since she was a little girl, but during the corona virus, she fell in love with the sport even more.
– Back then we had our own field and a lot of time. We started playing a couple of times a day, says Teemu Selänne.
– This is so nice that this has become a common thing for us. It’s nice to do it together, although admittedly sometimes it’s tougher. This is fun.
In safe hands
Teemu Selänne, who played a lot of tennis, coaches his daughter. In addition, Veera belongs to the 1983 Wimbledon finalist, by Chris Lewis, to the academy.
– He is really strict and a good coach. I believe we are in good hands.
Selänne estimates that Veera is at the top of her age group in California.
– She has also been able to train with the HVS competition girls in Finland and has done well there as well.
– He has made a lot of good friends here in Finland. Really good work is being done here in terms of junior tennis and girls’ tennis.
A three-year project
The backs train twice a day and go to tournaments on the weekends. Four to six hours are accumulated per day, sometimes more.
In addition to tennis, Veera says that training consists of running, swimming, cycling, pickleball, golf, soccer and sometimes baseball.
– We have a three-year project to put everything together and see how far we can get. We will then reassess. The girl works hard and dreams are hard. That’s the only real motivation, says Teemu Selänne.
Do you have to topple Veera?
– Maybe to some extent. Sometimes less would be enough, but it’s important that the fire and passion starts by itself.
Father Teemu praises his daughter’s physique really hard. The will is strong, sometimes a little too much, because in tennis you have to stay relaxed, Teemu reminds. According to Teemu, these characteristics also distinguish Veera from others.
– Terrible swagger and a fighter’s character without a doubt. He doesn’t give up on anything. That’s disgusting to play against.
– I don’t see any reason why he can’t become a professional. Everything is in your hands. He needs to stay fit and push every day.
“The truth hurts”
How does father and daughter cooperation work in practice? Teemu admits that his level of demands towards Veera is very high. As if towards himself and his sons. He wants things done right.
– Sometimes I’m a strict coach and I always give feedback when I see something that doesn’t belong. Veera doesn’t always like that. The truth hurts and it’s the only way to move forward.
– Perhaps my most important message to him is to not have those bad days. Everyone has them, but how bad a day is separates people in every area. I think it also separates the tops of the world.
What kind of coach do you think Teemu is, Veera Selänne?
– That’s good. It’s sometimes quite hard. That’s why sometimes I don’t want to listen, but that’s my own fault. Yes, he is a good coach.
Does the feedback annoy you?
– Maybe I’m thinking to myself that now it’s a bit too much, but it’s not annoying normally. Sometimes I’m just in a bad mood and I can’t help it, Veera smiles.
Competitions in Europe as well
Veera Selänne will next move to home school, so that she can train in the morning and attend the academy in the afternoon.
He will compete once more on the Finnish Tour in Finland before returning to pursue victories in North America in level 1 and level 2 competitions.
– We will probably also come to Europe to compete and see the level.
The favorite feed starts hard
Veera has been satisfied with her development, but says that she can still improve a lot.
– A little bit of everything. In the palm, knuckle and feed. I like volley a lot and they can also be improved.
Let’s go back to the feed. How loud does it really go?
– The hardest serve is about 176, but normally it is something like 160. If I hit flat, it goes pretty hard. It’s my favorite pass. If it goes, at least it’s easy for me to keep my serve.
At their best, the serve records of female players are over 200 kilometers per hour.
In the Wimbledon final, the average number one serve was Marketa Vondrousova 164 and Ons Jabeur 160 kilometers per hour. Vondrouvsova had the hardest serve in the final, 181 kilometers per hour.