Avant Wimbledon
Otto Virtanen (23 years old, 147th in the world) who carries Finland in the Davis Cup (semi-finalist of the last edition) and often knows how to impose his rhythmic game in Challenger (two more titles this year in Pau and Lugano) saved match points and three opportunities in 2024, in the final of Lugano against Masur (6-7, 6-4, 7-6), in the first round of the qualifiers in Miami against Rodionov (6-7, 7-6, 6-2) and in the first round of s’-Hertogenbosh against Svajda (4-6, 6-4, 7-6). Already nerves of steel. And also a few drops in tension, including a famous one in the first round of Roland-Garros against Misolic where he led 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 4-0, 40-0, before losing.
At the Wimbledon qualifiers
In the first round of qualifying against Agamenone, Virtanen was trailing 6-7, 6-2, 5-4, 0-40 on his serve. Miraculous, act 1. “I would say that we are in a more “classic” situation of saving match points, on serve, even if it is three in a row, says his coach Jan De Witt. Otto saves them by playing well. And one more in the same game, still by playing well. It seems more than tight in terms of score but he was in an “OK” position, he had never been broken before. It is a perilous situation, yes, but it can happen in tennis. And Otto plays a very good tie-break to finish, despite a double fault at 8-5, because he takes risks (6-7, 6-2, 7-6).”
In the second round against Ritschard (7-6, 5-7, 6-4), Virtanen, trailing 5-3 in the third set, saved, this time on his opponent’s serve, four more match points, including two in a row at 40-15. Miraculous, act 2. “It’s a different story,” continued De Witt. “Otto is relaxed like in the first round, he was able to return well. But it was his tense opponent who helped us a lot. He really wanted to finish the match “too much”, you could see it. It wasn’t easy, but Otto was the better player of the two. In these two matches, he wasn’t happy with his level of play, but that’s tennis, you have to find a solution, a mouse hole in difficult moments. And for him, it was probably the most important to do it with an average quality of play.”
“When his tennis is good, he’s really good, when he can’t produce a good level of play, he can fight against himself,” adds De Witt. “And what just happened shows that there is no reason to give up. It helped him to be more relaxed. He understood that you can behave differently when things don’t go your way. You can talk about it with your coach, but it doesn’t always work like that. But when you have proof on the court, it’s better. And that can explain why we played so well afterwards.” On the edge of the precipice, but without feeling that sensation of coming back from nowhere, the Finn perfectly managed the last qualifying round against Burruchaga (6-1, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6).
At Wimbledon
Before the tournament started, Virtanen was unfortunate enough to learn that his grandfather had passed away and flew to Finland to attend the funeral over the weekend. “What can I say, there was nothing else to do but attend his grandfather’s funeral,” says De Witt. “The whole family is close, everyone is back home, from Dubai to London. There were no particular problems with the preparation with all the matches played.”
On Monday, Virtanen won this time without any problems against Purcell (6-3, 6-2, 6-2). On Wednesday, he faces Paul, seeded No. 12 and recent winner of Queen’s. “What he needs most is stability,” concludes de Witt. “There are too many differences between the strong and weak moments in the fifteen months we have been working together. His level drops too much when he gets into difficulty. But everything that has happened these days will help him.”
