ITF

ITF World Summer 2023 13 EMIL RUUSUVUORI INTERVIEW Tell us how your tennis story began. It was just a coincidence how I started playing tennis. I was playing badminton with my Mum in our local sports hall and a local tennis coach was there for his daughter's gymnastics practice. He said I should try out tennis as he thought I had an eye for the ball. That's how it started. I went to a small tennis club with five courts and bubbles so we could play in the winter, which is not good for outdoor tennis in Finland. There was an ice hockey place right next to the tennis club and I did both sports for a while, but I spent most hours on the tennis court. Then, at the age of 11 or 12, I decided it was time to try and go to the next level. How did you take the next step in tennis? I started playing matches in other countries against players who were very good. That was important as I needed to get out from a small country like Finland and see how tennis works in Italy or France. You need to see the level. It's a big cost to do this travelling, but my parents somehow managed to pay for it and that's how I started and I was always ambitious to aim for the top. There is a video clip of me when I was 10 years old saying I wanted to be in the top 10 in the world, but the only ambition to start with is to enjoy the sport and see where you can take it. Back then, it was hard to even dream of playing at Wimbledon or the US Open. Now that you are on the ATP Tour, do you enjoy it? Your coach Federico Ricci has suggested you miss some of your home comforts from Finland. He is not totally mistaken. You have days when you travel from one event to the next and you leave at 10am and arrive at 7pm at the next hotel. Those days are brutal and I don't enjoy that. For sure, you have thoughts that it would be nicer to be somewhere else, but that is all part of the job. Then of course the results have an impact on how you feel, maybe a little too much. You should not allow bad results to affect you so much, but they do. Travelling in Europe is a little bit easier, but it is what it is. You miss friends and family, those are the two most important things. My friends, family and girlfriend are back home in Finland and life on the tennis tour is very different. When you go back, it's always very tight as you want to squeeze things in, but it's tough to have a normal life. How did it feel when you started playing in the biggest events? It is weird when you play in these tournaments for the first time. I remember the first few junior Grand Slams I played and it was amazing. I was in Australia and Rafa (Nadal) was in the same locker room where the juniors were, and he walked past and said 'hi' to me. It always stuck in my mind. Then last year I played Rafa in Australia in a night match and it was one of the best memories I have in tennis. Rafa and Roger (Federer) were my heroes growing up and maybe Rafa a little bit more. We had a poster of him smiling on the wall where I trained and it was special to get a chance to play against him. How close do you feel you are to the players in the top 10? The difference between the top 10 guys and the rest of us is very small. If you have a couple of big results, then it can make such a big difference to your ranking and that's what I need to do now to get closer to those guys in terms of ranking. In a one-off match, anyone in the top 100 can beat anyone else, but the guys in the top 10 have the consistency and that is what you need to find to get to that level. Also, this sport is played out in the mind.  You have an impressive Davis Cup record with 14 wins from 20 matches in singles and doubles. How much do you enjoy representing your country?  My best memories in the Davis Cup are against Austria when I had one of my best wins against Thiem [in 2019] and then earlier this year when we beat Argentina to get into the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage. That was special. We have gone to some exotic players like Egypt and Tunisia and you get to experience them with the team, so that gives you so many memories. It has been the same group of players since I started playing Davis Cup and there is a good connection between all of us.  You don't get to play with a team in tennis so much and that is something special. I tried some team sports when I was young and I didn't like them so much. I preferred to be alone, but now the Davis Cup is special, and I look forward to those weeks with the team. What are you expecting from the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage? There are no bad teams at this stage of the competition, so you go with what you get. It is a very difficult task for us with some great teams like Croatia, USA and the Netherlands and there will be a lot of tennis that week. I am looking forward to it. I am playing a lot of events, but you want to find a way to make sure Davis Cup is still a big part of tennis. It has incredible history and it's great for the fans. How important has Davis Cup captain Jarkko Nieminen been for you in your tennis journey? He was the guy I looked up to when I was growing up and now I am lucky enough to call him a friend. I can ask for advice whenever I need it and he is an incredible person for tennis in our country. Jarkko is the Davis Cup captain, a super nice guy and knows so much about tennis. It's great that he is willing to put in the time and help our group. n Questions Kevin Palmer Answers Emil Ruusuvuori Clockwise top le : Ruusuvuori Davis Cup doubles with Harri Heliovaara; with Federico 2017 winning World Tour Junior celebra ng Finland's victory Argen na 2023 Qualifiers; playing Garros in in Davis Cup in 2019

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