Variety shows doesn’t get bigger when Harri Heliövaara will step into the mixed doubles final of the US Open tennis tournament on Saturday Anna Danilina with.
The Kazakh pair was found on a list in the tournament organizer’s office, where players were looking for a mixed doubles pair. On Saturday, the duo will play in the final starting at 19:00 Finnish time at the Arthur Ashe Arena, the world’s largest tennis stadium.
Opposite is the number one ranked American pair playing in front of their home crowd Austin Krajicek–Jessica Pegula.
“It’s nice that the opponents get the support of the home crowd, so we can play the role of the underdog. There’s no need to take pressure,” anticipates Heliövaara, who finished training a moment earlier in the scorching heat of New York.
The car’s thermometer reads Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).
“A tennis player is familiar with hot and humid conditions. It always requires its own preparations and you have to take care not to do too much during the day and get tired. However, it’s part of this sport, and you’re used to it.”
The channel is a game form that is more unknown to a larger audience. It is only played in Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympics.
The game format is a newer familiarity for Heliövaara as well. The US Open is the second mixed doubles tournament of the 34-year-old from Helsinki’s career.
“I left with low expectations to enjoy the experience. It has been the key to happiness, not having to take on a lot of pressure.”
Heliövaara and the Finnish tennis players reached the finals of the Davis Cup, which will be played next week in Croatia.
In the tennis hierarchy, singles is clearly number one. Heliövaara’s bread doubles comes in second, and the mixed doubles is somewhat behind, the Finn estimates.
However, that does not mean that the US Open mixed doubles tournament is not high-quality. The best doubles specialists were there. In the second semi-final, the American who reached the men’s singles semi-finals played Ben Shelton.
“This is an entertaining game format. Even more entertaining for the public than the basic doubles game, which is quite clinical for men. There will be more versatile points and significantly more tactical variations in the mixed doubles game. Sometimes there is more pressure on a woman and sometimes there is no pressure.”
“It’s a happier game. It seems that everyone is in a good mood and the audience is enjoying themselves”, characterizes Heliövaara.
The game has passed, but there have also been sorrows. I felt pain in my chest for many days at the beginning of the tournament. Heliövaara went to be examined by the race doctors. The heart and lungs were examined, but fortunately they were fine.
“Probably it was of muscle or tendon origin, but it always scares me when we talk about chest pain on the left side and wants it to be examined carefully.”
“Fortunately, now they (pains) have dissipated and do not affect my playing,” assures Heliövaara, who is preparing for the first adult grand final of his career.
from East Helsinki the road to Grand Slam finalist has been extraordinary.
Heliövaara in 2007. The following year, the youngster celebrated winning the Australian Open.
Tennislupaus won the Australian Open boys’ doubles championship in 2008. However, Heliövaara decided to end his professional career in 2013 and invest in his university studies.
The graduate engineer returned to the professional fields four years later, at a very mature age for an athlete of 28 years.
“It’s hard to get that kind of feeling like yesterday, when the Grand Slam semifinal was won, from outside of sports. I missed that part of my life, for better or for worse. Losing hurts, but it teaches you to appreciate the good things more and more,” says the SATA-tennis graduate from Laäjasalo.
With the university degree, it has also been easier to focus on my tennis career. All eggs are not in one basket.
“When I thought about a comeback and made calculations, whether this is what I want, I made the decision to play for myself. I don’t have to show anyone. Feeling more liberated. It’s a big difference from when I played when I was younger. I experienced the pressures created by others significantly greater.”
Noise hazard the career has been on a wild rise in recent years. The year 2022 started at number 64 in the world list. The goal was to reach the top 40, but at the end of the year the Finn was 11th. He broke into the top ten this year.
“To be honest, when I came back, I didn’t think I would have made it into the top ten. The goal was to play at the Olympics, which has not yet come true.”
The goal will be fulfilled next summer in Paris. Heliövaaran and Emil Ruusuvuoren the current rankings would be enough for an Olympic place. The matter will finally be resolved in May of next year.
“The feeling is that we are going there. You never know, even if you make it to the next Olympics (in Los Angeles) in five years, if you really get excited to play here,” Heliövaara said.
After the US Open, Heliövaara will head to Croatia next week for the finals of the Davis Cup, where Finland reached for the first time in history. However, Heliövaara is not completely satisfied with his year.
“It’s been a bit of a two-part year. Spring and summer have not been so good in doubles Lloyd Glasspoolin with. Of course, expectations are growing after a good year. There is a little disappointment in the doubles game.”
“But at the same time, a wonderful Davis Cup final tournament and the mixed doubles Grand Slam final. That’s next level stuff. You can’t have everything and you have to be with it. It’s always good to leave something in the tooth cavity.”
Glasspool and Heliövaara’s road to the second round in the men’s doubles of the US Open. Picture from the Stockholm Open tournament from October.
In summer Heliövaara’s ranking in the world list dropped somewhat. The Finn skipped the grass season and took seven weeks of paternity leave. The family’s two-year-old first daughter got a little brother in July.
“In terms of tennis, it wasn’t necessarily the best possible solution, but in life you have to make compromises.”
“However, at the top of the world, you can’t do them endlessly. It’s kind of a constant battle inside my own head, how can I be present as a father and husband, and be a top athlete at the same time.”
The top tennis player, who is living peak years, says directly that combining family life and tour life is difficult.
“There is a combination in it. I don’t think it’s easy for anyone in any job, but maybe even more difficult in this job. For the next couple of months, I will be traveling almost entirely and my wife will have her hands full at home.”
However, Heliövaara does not have to do every race trip alone. The family participates in two or three races a year. The wife and children are involved even now in New York.
“For the family, this is also a unifying thing and we get to be together. There are also good playgrounds in Manhattan, where the older child is comfortable and the younger one is comfortable wherever mom is.”