After a valiant effort, Ramkumar Ramanathan lost a close match with a scoreline of 46 57 to Emil Ruusuvuori to end day 2 with a scoreline of 0-2 in favour of Finland.
ITD caught up with Emil Ruusuvuori to get his thoughts
Thoughts on the match.
It was a very solid match for me.
The first game was tough – I was not finding the balance between being too aggressive and missing too much. Ramkumar puts a lot of balls back and tries to make you miss and I was doing that. Thankfully I got the break back right away.
Then at the end of each of the sets, I was able to get few returns in to put the pressure back on Ramkumar and was able to get the breaks.
You played against Ramkumar in Australia just before the pandemic – What was the game plan going in?
It has been almost 2 years that we played. I had a good vision on how he plays. There is a big difference in how he plays his service and return games.
At the beginning of the match, I could not find the right balance. Ram served really well today and put away every easy volley.
In the end, I was able to put just few returns more in crucial games and it worked.
2-0 for Finland after Day 1. Were you expecting this or were you thinking it will be a little bit closer?
Couple of days ago, we were chatting that whenever Finland plays Davis Cup – it is usually 1-1 after Friday. It was our goal to make it 2-0 this time. Otto played very well in the first match and got the win. We got the best possible start for Friday and we have a strong team for doubles tomorrow.
Every Davis Cup match that I have played till now was decided in the last match, so it would be wonderful to finish early.
Do you think this takes the pressure off on the final day?
We still have to finish it. It is never done, till it is done. If the doubles guys can take care of the business, then great – we will have to see.
Photos from the tie – courtesy Finland Tennis Association
