Ruusuvuori Reaches Maiden Tour-Level Final
Sixth seed Emil Ruusuvuori broke new ground Saturday at the Tata Open Maharashtra, soaring into his first tour-level final in Pune.
The Finn fired 10 aces and rallied back from a break down in the second set to overcome Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 7-6(0) in one hour and 47 minutes, improving his ATP Head2Head record to 2-0 against the Pole.
“I really like this place,” Ruusuvuori said in his on-court interview. “I still haven’t lost a set. The whole match was very good today and I am very happy to be in the final. Every point in the tie-break is very important. I started well and 7/0 is good.”
[FOLLOW ACTION]Ruusuvuori, who is making his debut at the ATP 250 event, was competing in his second semi-final of the season, having advanced to the last four at the Melbourne Summer Set in January, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. The World No. 87 is now 7-2 on the year.
Prior to his win against Majchrzak, the 22-year-old had lost all four of his previous semi-finals at this level. The World No. 87 held his nerve in Pune in the second-set tie-break to ensure he would not fall at the same stage again, setting up a championship match clash against either Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer or three-time tour-level titlist Joao Sousa.