Harri Heliövaara: The historic championship gathers praise – “Absolutely insane”

Finnish tennis star Harri Heliövaara and his British counterpart Henry Patten achieved a sensational victory in the doubles final of the Australian Open tennis tournament on Saturday.

In the final match, an Italian couple faced off against the duo Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori. The match ended after exciting stages with the Finnish-British pair winning 2–1 (7–6, 6–7, 6–3).

The doubles championship demanded a lot from Heliövaara and Patten. The opening set of the match lasted almost 90 minutes and finally ended with the victory of the Italians.

“It was absolutely insane. Especially when there were that many aces in the first set and they were still able to put that loss behind them. It didn’t affect them at all, and they just went on a new rise”, says the Finnish ex-tennis champion Brother Paloheimo.

Heliövaara and Patten had no less than ten set points in the first set, while the Italian pair had five.

“Tennis is raw. The Italians were tough too. Either one could have won. Great performance from the boys.”

Grand Slam win is already the second couple for Heliövaara and Patten. They won the foursomes championship at Wimbledon last summer.

With Australia’s win, Heliövaara is now the first Finn to win more than one Grand Slam tournament. In addition, he won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open.

“After all, this is a really hard achievement when you think about the fact that tennis is a global game that is probably played more than any other sport except football.”

“Of course, a win in singles would be many times more important, but this is a really great performance. There aren’t many Grand Slam winners in Finland.”

At its best ranked 88th in the world Olli Rahnasto considers the victory of Heliövaara and Patten a great continuation of last summer’s championship at Wimbledon.

“This is a historic victory. Not only in tennis, but this goes beyond the boundaries of sports,” says Rahnasto.

Rahnasto emphasizes that there is no reason to compare the victories achieved in doubles and doubles.

“My philosophy in sports is that whenever someone wins a championship in any race, it’s deserved. Achieving profit is always the most difficult because the margins are small. “

Treasury according to Heliövaara’s championship is the result of the Finn’s long experience.

“He has done his homework better than anyone else. He got into the best doubles school known in the world when he played Lloyd Glasspoolin with.”

“However, his biggest asset is his emotional intelligence. He always stays in control and in the moment. Already saw it at Wimbledon. I think he stands out among the best in doubles.”