By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday November 21, 2023
Otto Virtanen and Harri Heliovaara topped Canada to score an historic win for Finland at Davis Cup in Malaga.
Photo Source: Getty
Finland continued it’s fairy tale run at this year’s Davis Cup, rallying from 1-0 down to defeat Canada 2-1 and advance to the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time in history.
Harri Heliovaara and Otto Virtanen defeated Vasek Pospisil and Alexis Galarneau 7-5, 6-3, after Virtanen had leveled the tie with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Gabriel Diallo.
It has been an incredible Davis Cup season for Virtanen, who is 5-0 overall and 4-0 in singles for Team Finland. The 22-year-old World No. 171 improved to 7-4 overall in Davis Cup singles rubbers.
Finland will face either Czechia or Australia in the final four on Friday in Malaga.
It was an emotional scene on court as captian Jarkko Nieminen’s squad locked down victory with a stellar performance in doubles.
Finland was without Emiil Ruusuvuori, who was a late pullout with a shoulder injury, and Canada was without Felix Auger-Aliasssime (lower body).
“This is why we play tennis, absolutely. I play for the emotions,” Heliovaara, the World No.29 doubles player, said. “That's the best you can, highs and lows. Today was definitely one of the highest days of my career in terms of emotions.
“We have a great team. Well, we knew beforehand there was going to be a big Finnish supporter group. Still, you never know how good it's gonna feel until you actually experience that on court.”
Nieminen, who won 63 rubbers for Finland during his career, kept a level head as he pointed to work still to be done for the upstart Finns.
“Obviously it's a great moment now today and it's still not time to celebrate,” he said. “We have chance to go even further, and with this great feeling and confidence, it's really nice to step on court on Friday.
“It’s incredible, the whole journey with these guys since I started as a captain. It's amazing team.”