The Finns’ great day of tennis in London was close to reaching its climax.
3.7. 22:41•Updated 3.7. 23:53
Otto Virtanen was eliminated on Wednesday at the end of a great day of Finnish tennis from the continuation of the men’s singles of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. of the United States Tommy Paul won the second round match 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
The match in London lasted three hours and 19 minutes.
– It felt like there was a chance to win. It was about a few points. The opponent showed my experience and skill in those situations.
– In the fifth set, in a 3-3 situation, there was a chance to break when I led it 40-15. The guy (Paul) put four good firsts in the box in that place and got a big boost from that, Virtanen estimates.
Unprejudiced Virtanen made it to the second round of a grand slam tournament in singles for the first time in his career. He led the match 2-1, but the routine of Paul, ranked 12th in the tournament, was too much for the Finn in the final moments of the last two sets.
Earlier on Wednesday at Wimbledon about Finnish players Emil Ruusuvuori and Harri Heliövaara won their opening men’s singles and doubles matches.
First time in the Wimbledon main series
Virtanen (ATP-147), who cleared his way from the qualifiers to the main series of Wimbledon for the first time in his career, won in the opening round in spectacular style by Max Purcell (ATP-68) and faced Paul (ATP-13) in the second round.
Paul, who just won the Queen’s Club ATP tournament, got to experience the Finn’s strong game right from the first moments of the match. Virtanen broke his opponent’s opening serve and advanced to a 6-4 victory in the opening set.
The second set was won by the pre-favorite Paul, but 23-year-old Virtanen struck again in the deciding moments of the third set.
During the set, the Finn had only won a couple of points on Paul’s passes before his 6-5 lead. In an important moment, Virtanen grabbed the break and the set lead 2-1.
The fourth and fifth sets of the match were also even, but in the end Paul turned the match around.
Virtanen has previously played on the grand slam tour in the French and US Open.