Otto Virtanen about his sensational win: “It was a long time coming”

The Finn defeated the American in an exciting match Ben Shelton’s.

Virtanen commented on his mood after the match on Tennisliito’s audio tape.

“It was a pretty empty feeling. One of the best feelings ever,” the Finn described the victory.

The tight match ended in favor of Virtanen 3–2 (6–4, 3–6, 6–7, 6–2, 7–6). The last set was decided by a tie-break rule.

Virtanen wasn’t immediately sure what happened to the last ball.

“When the last point ended, I looked around and looked for information, whether the ball was in or not. Fortunately, the referee showed that it was wide. There were absolutely incredible feelings at that point.”

The Finn’s opponent, Shelton, is fifth in the tennis ATP ranking. In the Wimbledon tournament, he was ranked fourth.

Virtanen according to him, the match that lasted more than four hours was not easy.

“Of course you had to play your best in the match. Today it paid off,” says Virtanen.

He is playing in the Wimbledon main series for the second time. The last time he was in the tournament was in 2024. At that time he also advanced to the second round.

He praised the atmosphere of the tournament profusely. At the end, the spectators rewarded the Finn with thunderous applause.

“The field is really clean. I felt that the audience was very involved.”

Virtanen is playing in the main series of the Grand Slam tournament for the sixth time. He has made it past the first round three times now. The second round is also his best achievement in Grand Slam tournaments.

Finnish Makes 126,000 pounds from his winnings, or about 146,000 euros. He will face the British in the next round Arthur Feryn.

Virtanen said he was ready for the next round. He reminded that he now has more experience than before.

“It’s good to move on from here. Let’s go one match at a time. Hopefully we can have a long tournament.”