Otto Virtanen did a trick that even Jarkko Nieminen couldn’t do

Otto Virtanen shook off one of the hardest victories in the history of Finnish tennis on Tuesday, when the fifth in the world went upside down in the opening round of Wimbledon Ben Shelton.

The Finn has not previously beaten an equally high-ranked opponent at the grand slam level in singles. It hasn’t even been able to do that Jarkko Nieminen.

Even greater than the victory was the manner in which it came.

Shelton didn’t play badly, especially in the decisive moments. The American did what the absolute tops so often do in tennis: he raised his level in the final set.

Usually, in these twists, the underdogs are left with a sympathetic battle loss.

That didn’t happen to Virtanes, even though the big weapon, i.e. the first pass, didn’t fall on the field in the match.

The Finn, who was in great shape, concentrated on every ball in an exceptional way, also raised his level, played world-class tennis and sent one of the top players to the stands.

To the world of tennis was upset about the result for a reason: Virtanen’s social media channels are filled with comments praising the skills of the 140th-ranked Finn in the world.

Shelton praised the ATP in the interviewhow Virtanen hit winning shots from every ball that fell short and presented exceptional solutions on the field.

The victory was undoubtedly a huge surprise.

At the same time, it was a trick that many have expected from Virtase for a long time.

Virtanen’s huge potential has been tasted among sports fans at least since he won the Orange Bowl as a young boy in 2018. The list of champions of the US junior tournament is always a great read About Roger Federer since.

In the Finn’s hitting arsenal, a terrible serve and an even more terrible forehand are weapons of a class that not many players in the world have.

The previous weakness, the knuckle stroke, is also a stroke you can rely on, especially on low-bouncing surfaces such as grass.

Virtanen has flashed his skill and potential over the past few years – sometimes on the professional tour and in the Davis Cup – but now the key performance clicked on the big arena at Wimbledon.

Next in the round, however, Virtas will be measured by the real thing, when he comes up against the one ranked 114th in the world list Arthur Fery. Not because someone tougher than Shelton would come up against him. In advance, such resistance is only expected in the semi-finals.

The current, 25, is measured because now we are testing new things.

Virtanen’s appearance on the main tour has been expected for years, but there is a reason why it hasn’t happened. The journey has been slowed down by health concerns, which have messed up this year as well, but the root cause is the volatility of the excerpts.

In tennis, consistency is rewarded from tournament, game, set and ball to ball. A single victory, even in world-class tennis, is ultimately a thin consolation if the momentum has disappeared in the next round.

Virtanes now has a great chance for a breakthrough: It’s just a question of whether the Finn will continue to get the best out of himself.

The Shelton match showed that Virtanen’s game is enough for anything on grass courts.