Harri Heliövaara and Henry Patten advanced to the doubles final in Paris.
Harri Heliövaara (right) celebrates the first final place of his career at the Masters 1000 level. EPA / AOP
Finnish tennis star Harri Heliövaara and his British counterpart Henry Patten advanced to the men’s doubles final at the final Masters tournament of the ATP season in Paris.
In the semi-final, the duo defeated the French Quentin Halys and by Pierre-Hugues Herbert straight in two sets 6–3, 6–4.
The match got off to a challenging start, as Heliövaara/Patten lost 2-3 in the opening set due to two service losses.
However, the duo quickly managed to turn the situation in their favor and held on to the set until the end. In the end, the Finnish-British double team dominated the field in the second set and convincingly secured the place in the final.
– Today was a pretty great match. In terms of results, of course, a great performance from us. At the beginning of the match, all sorts of things happened. I didn’t stress too much and kept joy and peace with me. It was worth it, and we reached the levels and passed. We can be proud, Heliövaara commented in the Tennis Association’s press release.
The 36-year-old Heliövaara is celebrating his first career finals at the Masters 1000 level. In Paris, Heliövaara/Patten have previously won two Grand Slam competitions in their career, but have yet to experience the final at the Masters level.
– The first Masters final for us – yes, we’ve been waiting for it a bit. You get what you deserve and the right things have been done. Hopefully tomorrow in the final we will put in an even bigger gear, Heliövaara added.
In Sunday’s final match, either will face each other Lloyd Glasspool/Julian Cash or Francisco Cabral/Lucas Miedler.
Heliövaara and Patten won the Australian Open grand slam tournament in January and the Beijing ATP tournament in September.