Play drummer and fan: Emil Ruusuvuori, Finland's ace in the hole in the Davis Cup, who discovered tennis by chance

Finland is a country with a rich history in many sports, from winter disciplines such as

and

to

, but

.

Only two players from the country achieved notable achievements on the ATP circuit.

Doubles player

was champion at the 2017

and former world number one in that specialty.

And

 reached 13th place in singles and won two titles.

That is why he was the great childhood idol of

, the leader of the Finnish team that will receive

in Espoo, this weekend, to play the

2023

series .

Born in Helsinki on April 2, 1999, the 43rd in the world ranking is the only Finnish racket in the top 100 and has just lost in the second round of the Oceanic Grand Slam to Russian

.

He thus equaled his best performance in a "major" category in that he was never able to win two matches in a row.

It was not the best start to the season for the Finn, who accumulated a 1-3 record in 2023, since before his time in Melbourne he had lost in his ATP debut in

and

.

This weak moment should not relax the Argentines, because Ruusuvuori closed 2022 -

- in clear rise and with his best ranking, 40th place.

And he showed that he has the talent to complicate the toughest opponents and the mental strength to face great challenges.

Ruusuvuori, 23, had to work hard to earn a place on the tennis circuit,

one day while playing badminton with her mother Eva at a club in her hometown. 

"Mika Muilu, who was watching her daughter's gymnastics training, came up to me and said,

And that's how I started, "she recalled a couple of years ago in a note with the

.

The 5-year-old boy quickly took a liking to this new discipline and began to closely follow Nieminen's adventures, who became

.

When he was 13, Emil began training at the academy that his idol has in Helsinki with the Italian

, who ended up becoming his coach.

Ruusuvuori had to work on something other than his tennis.

"The Finns are relaxed, quite calm people," Ricci once recounted. "Emil had to build

, which was not natural to him. And that takes time."

Emil Ruusuvuori, 2017 Junior Masters champion. Photo Twitter @ITFTennis

The Finn got it and it didn't take long to start reaping achievements.

As a junior, he came to occupy the fourth step of the ranking and was a

semifinalist and

champion in

2017. The following year, he made the leap to professionalism and in June 2019 he won his first Challenger in Fergana, Uzbekistan.

With that consecration, he made history because he became the youngest Finn to win a tournament on that circuit and the first to do so since Nieminen, in November 2013.

In September 2019, he added his first victory against a top 100 by defeating

(at the time fifth in the ranking) in a 

 and achieved his second title at the

, which was played on the courts of the Rafael Nadal Academy.

As an extra prize for that celebration, he was invited to prepare the 2020 season at that institution.

Ruusuvuori did not let this opportunity pass him by and ended up giving himself the pleasure of sharing some work sessions with

, whom he used to watch on television when he was little.

"It's something really different the way he hits the ball and how hard he hits the ball and how he keeps the practice so intense. It's something I've never experienced and it's one of the best memories I have. There's a lot you can see and learn from that, even if it's just one training session," he said after that experience.

After that dream preseason in Manacor, he was ready to make a leap in quality, but the coronavirus pandemic stopped him just when he was one step away from entering the top 100.

"It was very hard. There were many big tournaments that I had never played, like Indian Wells. We arrived, we practiced and the tournament was not played. It was not easy," he recalled in the middle of that year.

To take advantage of the five-month break, he looked with his coach for a way to continue developing his game without stepping on a court.

"Federico gave me the chance to see matches by Agassi, Sampras, Federer and Safin. And other classics from the past. All very good. Agassi was still playing against many of the players who are still on the Tour, so there are many similar things. It was very nice And it helped me a lot," he said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emil Ruusuvuori (@emilruusuvuori)

That work paid off.

After the resumption of the circuit in August, he managed to get into the top 100 for the first time and in October he played his first semi at the

, Kazakhstan.

In 2021 he achieved the best victory of his career on the ATP circuit by defeating German

, seventh in the world, in the second round of Miami, and became a regular presence on the most important

of men's tennis.

Last year he had the best season of his short career.

He started by playing his first final, in

, where he lost to the Portuguese

.

In October, she reached the semifinals in

, where she beat American

semifinalist

shortly before, in the quarterfinals, and said goodbye to

.

And he closed the year in the top 40.

The objectives of 2023: a title and a victory against Argentina

"This season I want to improve my performance in the Grand Slams and win a title," said Ruusuvuori. Photo Twitter @EmilRuusuvuori

A fan of video games - he travels with his

- and music - he plays the drums very well - the Finn is very clear about his great dream as a tennis player.

"It's an easy question: win a Grand Slam," he said some time ago.

Although for now he thinks short term.

"The good closing of 2022 shows that we are doing things right. This season I want to improve my performance in the Grand Slams and win a title," he commented in an interview with the ITF a few weeks ago, before his time in Melbourne.

The Finn beat the clash with Argentina, which will be his

, a tournament in which he debuted in 2017 and accumulates a record of nine wins and five losses in singles.

"Representing my country is always special and we don't usually have that team atmosphere in tennis. Playing at home is super exciting and we want to take advantage of the locality," said the man who faced two Argentines last year, although that background will not help him. much.

It is that he played twice with

(win in the first round of the ATP in Melbourne and defeat at the start of the

in Rome) and as many times with

(fall in the second round of Indian Wells and celebration in the debut in Hamburg) .

But neither

, 44th in the ranking,

nor the

, 26 °,

They are in Espoo. 

Despite these and other absences, Ruusuvuori anticipated: "Argentina has a lot of quality players and the level of the series is going to be very high." 

HS

look also

The Davis Cup, the story of a tournament that was glorious until Piqué arrived and turned it into a Twingo

Davis Cup: Mago Coria trusts his "great team" to face Finland, although he is concerned about the state of the pitch