Rusuvuori will meet a Russian player in the second round.
Emil Ruusuvuori emerged victorious in his opening match of the men's ATP tennis season by knocking down a French opponent in Hong Kong By Benjamin Bonz 6–7 (5–7), 6–2, 6–1. Ruusuvuori won in just over two and a half hours.
The match was tight until the middle of the second period, but then the game turned into a one-sided show for Ruusuvuuori. In the third set, Finland's number one player had an easy time, when Bonzi, who had lost his confidence, was constantly struggling with his shots.
Ruusuvuori had no less than 25 breaking opportunities in the match, of which the Finn managed to make use of eight. Bonzi had seven breaking balls. The two had faced each other three times previously and Bonzi had twice left the field as the winner.
“I wanted to start the season differently than last year. Even then I played the first game against Bonzi, and he was better then. I'm very happy that I succeeded”, Ruusuvuori referred to the last season that started in India in an on-field interview.
The opposition of Ruusuvuuori, ranked 69th in the world list, will be significantly tougher in the second round, when the second-ranked Karen Hatchanov. The Russian is ranked 15th in the world. The match is not yet on Tuesday's schedule.
Finnish second player in singles Otto Virtanen suffered a blunt defeat in the second qualifying round of the Hong Kong tournament. Swiss Marc-Andrea Hüsler defeated the Finn overwhelmingly 6–2, 6–0.
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