Family First: Why Otto raced back to Finland after qualifying at Wimbledon

Otto Virtanen had one goal when he arrived at Wimbledon ahead of last week’s qualifying event. The Finnish player wanted to qualify for the main draw and be at his grandfather’s funeral in Helsinki Saturday.

It has been a week of highs and lows full of a wide range of emotions for the 23-year-old since then. Virtanen accomplished both goals, earning his way into the main draw of The Championships for the first time before flying home for a couple of introspective days with family to honour his grandfather.

“I felt that it gave me more power and more strength to show that I had such good memories with him,” Virtanen told ATPTour.com. “He watched all my tennis matches and my online career. And I always got a message after matches, no matter if I won or lost, and always positive. So that was quite a tough moment for me once I heard some weeks ago that he passed away. But I turned it into strength.”

It would have been very easy for Virtanen to succumb to both his opponents and the pain of losing a loved one. In the first round of qualifying against Franco Agamenone, his Italian opponent earned four match points on return at 5-4 in the third set, including three in a row from 0/40.

Virtanen persevered to win the match and then was in deep trouble again in the next round against Swiss Alexander Ritschard, who led their encounter 7-6(1), 4-1 and also had four match points against the Finn. Again, Virtanen found a way through and then won his final-round qualifying match in four sets to book his place in the main draw.

“I tried to just play. I played very good and it was giving me more motivation for passing the qualies and going back to Finland for a few days, and then going back to the main draw of Wimbledon, which was a big dream for me,” Virtanen said. “For a child, it's the biggest tournament, and especially this special place where I played some juniors and looked up to all the pros. I saw how they do the things and wished I could play there one day and here I am playing here.”

As special as it was to qualify, Virtanen had to deal with the harsh reality that his grandfather had passed away. Before his final-round qualifying match, he had looked with his team at flight schedules and decided to fly back to Finland Thursday after his match. He almost missed his flight because of London traffic but was able to wake up in Helsinki Friday morning.

“That was not not the most fun time. Saw some family and then on Saturday morning, in the early morning, we had to go to another city where my grandparents lived and my grandma still lives there. The funeral was hosted there,” Virtanen said. “We went there and we had the whole family tree there. It was so great to see everybody, especially now that I'm traveling a lot and as a tennis player, you don't see too much of your family. So it was a tough, tough moment for everybody. He was really close to me.”

Virtanen’s grandfather was a “sporty guy”, who enjoyed participating in various athletic challenges with Otto when he visited the cottage.

“I tried to visit him all the past years every time I was in Finland just to go see and check up and cheer up my grandma, because my granddad for the last year wasn't in the best shape,” Virtanen said. “We tried to take every chance we could to see him. I was actually one of the six guys who was carrying him in the funeral to the grave, so that was quite an emotional moment. But it was good to be part of the day. I would never, never miss it.”

Family means the world to Virtanen, so it was a tough Saturday for the Finnish player. There were many emotions and less than two days after he had arrived back home, family members were wishing him luck. It was back to business in London.

“Jumping on a plane was quite empty at that point,” Virtanen said. “Then arriving to Wimbledon I got some positives, everything felt good. I knew what I was working for. I knew what I was playing for here.”

The Virtanen family has dreamt of being in Otto’s position for multiple generations. His father, Pasi Virtanen, played professional tennis and reached a career-high No. 302 in the PIF ATP Rankings in 1985. Otto’s older brother, Panu, competed at Vanderbilt University and reached World No. 591 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings.

“I have two older sisters, so I'm the youngest. They played a little bit but nothing like my brother. He went to college and played some Futures, some Challengers and had some ATP points. My sisters stopped early and did something else,” Virtanen said. “My dad, he played and then he was coaching all his life. Still is. I think it's nice for the whole family to see someone from the family playing there.”

^{Photo: Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour}
Otto’s father was his coach until longtime ATP Coach member Jan De Witt last year took the reins. The German has worked with Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon among other stars.

Virtanen was a top junior player, winning the prestigious Orange Bowl in 2018. Players who have also won the event range from John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg to Roger Federer and Andy Roddick. But it took until November 2022 for the Finn to crack the world’s Top 200.

“I think many guys throw in the towel because it's very hard to come all the way from there, all the levels. And in Finland, we don't have too many tournaments,” Virtanen said. “Playing men's tennis for some years, and then going to Challengers, I started to feel like this is the work… everything you learn so quickly [from what] you see all the pros doing here. And suddenly, you're playing some big tournaments.”

After Jarkko Nieminen flew the flag for Finnish tennis, Emil Ruusuvuori has taken the mantle in recent years. But Virtanen, who reached a career-high World No. 109 last year, has shown he is capable of competing on the biggest stages, too.

The World No. 147 cruised past Max Purcell in the main draw at SW19 and will now face Queen’s Club champion Tommy Paul for a place in the third round.

“When I start playing really well, I feel like I could compete with anyone. I have no fear of anyone. If I lose, it's just experience, I don't take it [badly]. But I'm definitely going there to win the match and nothing else,” Virtanen said. “I'm going there to win again. Same like I had a good preparation today. Everything done, super relaxed going on court. I'll try to keep it simple and it's a big journey and I have one match at a time. I go to win the match, I do everything to win the match and see how it goes. If it's not enough, it's not enough.”

Win or lose, Virtanen will carry the memory of his grandfather with him throughout.

“He always believed that I would be here so this one is for him, definitely,” Virtanen said. “He'll always stay in my mind for all the matches, after all the matches when I still keep getting messages from my grandma. But yeah, special weekend. And now I'm pushing every match full just to get everything out of the matches. Having him up there watching me play, [it is] just a good reminder and extra motivation.”