Helsinki Saturday & Sunday: Przysiezny crowns a perfect week by winning the biggest title of his career

It’s time for the final report from Helsinki this year. I’ll review the last two days of action next and then go through the winner’s press conference comments in the end.

Semifinals day – Haase vs Przysiezny & Kontinen vs Bohli & Kontinen/Nieminen vs Marx/Zelenay

Saturday started with the interesting semifinal between the fit-again Haase and the in-form Przysiezny. The match promised a lot and it didn’t disappoint. Both players were playing “Top 100 tennis” and there were some excellent rallies. The Pole was just a little bit sharper than the Dutchman and took his chances better in the two tiebreaks. Haase was naturally frustrated to lose this match, but he can go home confident of the fact that his comeback is progressing well.

The next match was the one the home crowd had really been looking forward to. The new hero Kontinen had easily beaten his semifinal opponent Bohli just two weeks ago in Jersey and was full of confidence after his victory over Nieminen. But it wasn’t meant to be Henkka’s day. He looked tired from the start and quickly went 2-5 down, but with the support of the crowd the youngster was able to raise his game again and turn the set around. Unfortunately Bohli wasn’t going to go away easily; he played a very smart and solid match forcing the Finn to hit many balls from the baseline. In the end Kontinen somehow managed to get to a third set tiebreak, but couldn’t turn on the magic this time. Despite the loss the home fans were proud of the efforts their new hero had given all week long.

After that tough match Kontinen still had the doubles semifinal to play with Nieminen later that evening. Their opponents Marx and Zelenay were a lot fresher than the Finnish pair, but the home crowd wouldn’t let their favorites go down without a fight. And that fight paid of in the end. The first set went easily to the doubles experts, but the Finns took the second one with a break at 5-4. In the super-tiebreak Marx/Zelenay went ahead 7-4, but Kontinen/Nieminen took the next five points and had two match points. Kontinen missed a makeable backhand on the first match point, but made up for it on the second one with a superb lob that landed just inside the baseline. The crowd went nuts and once again the day had ended on a good note.

Finals day – Kontinen/Nieminen vs Bopanna/Qureshi & Bohli vs Przysiezny

The final day had arrived and the long week had also taken its toll on the reporter, who almost slept too long. When I arrived to the stadium the warm-up for the doubles final had just gotten underway, so I made it just in time. Kontinen and Nieminen were looking to win their first title together, but they were up against a tough team in the form of Bopanna and Qureshi. The first set was one-way traffic as the Finns struggled to find both their serves and returns. The second set was much more even and it went to a tiebreak where the Finns had a set point, but Qureshi saved it with an amazing reflex volley. Soon after that Bopanna served out the match on their second match point. The doubles tournament had once again offered plenty of good matches for the crowd to enjoy.

Next up it was the singles final between the Polish Federer Przysiezny and the Swiss fighter Bohli. For both players it was the biggest final of their careers and it showed during the first set especially on the Pole. He looked more nervous of the two and made some unusual errors, of which Bohli took full advantage. A bit by bit Przysiezny was starting to play more freely and when he broke the Swiss player’s serve for the first time the match finally turned around. The third set was a mere formality for the Pole as he made the tiring Bohli run around the court and forced him into errors. It was a well deserved title for the qualifier, who had played the most impressive tennis from the first match on here.

In the post-match press conference the happy winner talked about his goals for 2010, the upcoming Davis Cup match between Poland and Finland, his friendship with Henkka Kontinen and the key to this recent good form. His next goal is to get into the Top 100 and he hopes to do it by March next year as he has very little points to defend. About the Davis Cup match Przysiezny revealed that it will be played in Sopot on a similar surface like here in Helsinki and that their #1 ranked player Lukasz Kubot has said he will return to the team next year. The Pole also talked about the time when he and Kontinen were housemates in Prague and how he was happy to see Henri rise up the rankings so quickly this year. He also said the key to this success was being calmer on the court and not getting so upset with himself.

This is it from Helsinki, I hope somebody enjoyed reading my reports this week. The tournament was a great success and I’m happy to tell it will return for its 10th anniversary next year.

Ville Talvenmaa