Tennis|Oskari Paldanius makes his debut.
Captain of the Finnish national tennis team Jarkko Nieminen named the team for the January-February away Davis Cup match against Austria, and for the first time there is a 17-year-old promise Oskari Paldanius. A long-time number one star Emil Ruusuvuori is still on hiatus from competitive games.
In the two previous years, Finland has played in the final tournament of the top 16 countries. In the second year, Finland even reached the top four. Now, along with Paldanius, familiar names are applying for entry to the final tournament, ie Otto Virtanen, Harri Heliövaara, Eero Vasa and Patrik Niklas-Salminen.
According to Nieminen, the goal is to play in the finals again in the fall.
– In advance, the settings of the match are really tight and there are two equal teams. The match will likely be decided by a few important situations or individual points, Nieminen summed up in the bulletin.
– The team has a good combination of experience and youth – Heliövaara represents a more experienced guard and Paldanius debuts in the team.