Glasspool/Heliovaara Start 2023 In Style With Adelaide Triumph

Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara capped an impressive first week to their 2023 season on Sunday at the Adelaide International 1, where the British-Finnish duo downed Jamie Murray and Michael Venus 6-3, 7-6(3) to claim its third ATP Tour title together.

The third-seeded team had dropped just one set en route to the final at the ATP 250 event and took control of the championship match by reeling off four games in a row from 2-3 in the opening set.

A tighter second set featured no break points, but Glasspool and Heliovaara again found a hot streak to claim four points in a row from 3/3 in the tie-break. Strong serving was key to the third seeds’ 79-minute victory — they won 83 per cent (30/36) of points behind their first delivery, compared to 68 per cent (34/50) for the fourth-seeded Murray and Venus.

”It was a very solid week from us,” said Heliovaara after the match. “Even that set that we lost [in the semi-finals], we had three set points. We were a little bit disappointed that we didn’t actually cross the whole week [without losing a set], but it was just so enjoyable playing… I think we had a good feeling after every match that we did what we are supposed to do, nothing special.

”If this is our level going forward, I’m really looking forward to the rest of the year.”

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Glasspool and Heliovarra enjoyed a stellar first season playing together on the ATP Tour in 2022. They reached seven tour-level finals and claimed their maiden ATP 500 title at the Hamburg European Open. That consistency helped the pair qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, where it reached the semi-finals on tournament debut.

“Obviously last year was an amazing year,” said Glasspool. “This is a completely new year, everyone’s coming to beat us this year. I was a little nervous starting out, it had been a month and a half and we hadn’t played a match… But all the practice paid off and we came out and played really well. I’m really happy with where we are at to start the year.”

The victory is set to lift 33-year-old Heliovaara into the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings for the first time on Monday. The Finn could rise as high as No. 9, while his partner Glasspool maintains his position at No. 12.

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