Hong Kong Tennis Open: Ruusuvuori one win from maiden ATP Tour title after three-set victory over Ofner
- Emil Ruusuvuori battles back from a set down to beat Sebastian Ofner 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in Saturday’s first semi-final
- One more victory would make Ruusuvuori just the second player from Finland to reach 100 tour-level victories
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Emil Ruusuvuori is one win from his first ATP Tour title after coming from to beat Sebastian Ofner in the semi-finals of the Bank of China Hong Kong Open on Saturday.
In a game decided by just a couple of points, the underrated Fin triumphed 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 at Victoria Park Stadium to book his spot in a final for the second time in his career.
The pair exchanged breaks early on Centre Court, and Ofner struck again in the ninth game to snatch the opening set.
Ruusuvuori levelled the match with a break of his own in the 12th game of the following set, before breaking for good in the sixth game of the decider to seal the win in two hours, and 13 minutes.
“Ofner has been very good the whole week so you know, against guys like that when the level is that high, it’s a matter of a couple of points,” Ruusuvuori said. “I had that one break point in the first but missed a too-easy backhand.
“In the second and third it was much better than in the first set in those couple of key points.”
Ruusuvuori, whose previous final appearance came almost two years ago in Pune, India, where he lost to Joao Sousa in three sets, needs only one more win to become just the second Finnish player, after Jarkko Nieminen, to record 100 tour level wins in the Open era.
The 24-year-old must now wait to see who he plays in the final, and while he would face China’s Shang Juncheng for the first time, he beat Andrey Rublev the last time they played each other, coming out on top after an epic three hours, and 17 minutes battle at the Cincinnati Masters last August.
“That was one of the highlights last year after losing a couple of times before that to him,” Ruusuvuori said. “It was a similar thing as with [Karen] Khachanov here after a couple of defeats.
“And then being able to get the win in a very difficult match like that gave you a lot of confidence and belief in yourself. Hopefully, I’ll do it again in the final.”
Ranked a career-best 37th in the world, Ruusuvuori’s performances this week guarantee he will move up when the ATP updates its list on Monday, regardless of Sunday’s result.
