Saturday July 27, 2024
Helsinki, Finland
Yesterday I played the singles and doubles finals in Finland. The scheduling here is similar to that in Lugano and other ITF Masters tournaments, but is not very player friendly in my opinion. I want to make it clear that this type of scheduling is not unique to Helsinki. But there are other options.
Rosemary Everett and I were scheduled for 4th match on Court 3 after three singles matches. The third match was not before 11:30, so we were looking at perhaps 1pm. However there was no set time. (This is common also in pro events…but then they are paid for their efforts.) Singles is two out of three full sets. No other court was scheduled for more than two singles matches. I went down at 11:30 and the second match was just warming up. So I talked to the referee to get an idea of when our match might be or if it might be moved to another court. I mentioned that Rosemary had two other matches after the singles, so we needed to get started before it was too late. He agreed upon a time, around 2 I think, to check back, so I didn’t have to wait in the sun for hours. I am staying a 5 min walk away so that worked. After that the communication improved, as did the scheduling. We ended up playing after the second match, around 1:30 or so. And after the match, the tournament director kept us well informed about our next match time and the court, which was quite good.
As for the match, Rosemary played really well, I was steady and won 62 63, in just under two hours. Rosemary moved well and kept the ball deep, it was just a few points here and there especially in the second set. It was warm yesterday and the court was super dry and slippery…despite wearing clay shoes I slipped a few times (but I practiced for this in California where our courts are also slippery!). In 65 doubles we played a Finnish team who are in the 75s, but they were good, I recognized them as having played on Cup teams and they have done well at the individuals. We went up 50 in both sets but won 61 62 (no-ad scoring is tricky, as were our opponents). We had some really good points. It was a nice finish to my Finnish and European trip.
Below…these shoes were brand new when I left the USA…yesterday was really dusty. I’
Rosemary and Peter Gard made it three for three for Rosemary this tournament.
David Pitts, who lost first round in a third set tiebreak rallied to win the “Bonus” draw, beating a very experienced German player (playing his 9th ITF tournament of the year) in the final, still wearing hard court shoes.
Leanne Swaysland won the 50 & 60 doubles, recovering well from her illness.
Michelina Valente won the 65 mixed and Luisa is in the 55 mixed final tomorrow.
And that’s a wrap in tennis in Europe this month. Many many thanks to all the volunteers in Helsinki, the tournament director, and the referee. They did a nice job helping with the Hilton rates, and with the presentations after matches (presenting medals and unique gifts, though a lot of them involved alcohol!). The weather was perfect. If you want to play a tournament in a pretty place without oppressive summer heat, Helsinki and Hanko Finland are the tournaments to attend.