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Finland's No. 1 reflects on his experience training with and then facing Monfils
When Emil Ruusuvuori saw the Australian Open draw and learned he would play 10th seed Gael Monfils in the first round, his reaction was priceless.
“We were laughing with my coach because you spend two weeks with one guy and there are 127 other players,” Ruusuvuori said. “To play him it was kind of ridiculous, but that's what it is. Nothing we can do about it.”
Before the 21-year-old from Finland arrived in Australia, he had never practised with the French No. 1. But Monfils approached him about training together during quarantine, and Ruusuvuori didn’t hesitate to accept the offer.
“He’s a super nice guy and for sure it's never boring with him,” Ruusuvuori said. “[He’s a] very funny guy and we had two good weeks.”
<a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/emil ... view'>Emil Ruusuvuori</a>
They were not joined by two other players during the second week of quarantine because those players remained in hard quarantine. To say Monfils and Ruusuvuori got to know one another’s games well is an understatement.
“For two weeks, it's quite a long time. Of course practice matches are always different, but you're better prepared, I guess. You can make a better plan,” Ruusuvuori said. “I played a lot with him. But then like I said, the match is always different and people might play very different.
“He makes so many balls that it's very tough, just ball after ball, it just keeps coming back. That's a very difficult thing.”
All that practise made Ruusuvuori more comfortable going deep into a fifth set against Monfils. Those extra balls that came flying back to his side of the court for nearly four hours were not easy to deal with, but they were familiar.
“For sure it was tough,” Ruusuvuori said. “When the match is that long, it's very tough to keep the… right state of [mind].”
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For two weeks, Ruusuvuori had an opportunity to simulate what it was like to play one of the best players in the world. Monfils did not make it easy for him in the fifth set. The Finn remained calm and embraced the moment. Ruusuvuori saved five break points in the final frame to seal the biggest victory at a major in his career.
“That's what I guess we all play for. Those moments, it's just something different. You're so deep into it,” Ruusuvuori said. “You probably feel terrible after your match. But in the heat of the match, you don't really feel a thing, of course. Even in this match in the fifth I was tired and felt little cramps coming and stuff and it's tough, but that's just a battle. I enjoy it somehow and try to pull it off.”
None of it was a surprise to Monfils. He’d just spent a fortnight watching Ruusuvuori up close.
“I’ve been practising with him the past two weeks here," Monfils said. "[He] just was playing his game, not much more than what he [was] able to do today. It was way enough to beat me.”
