Wimbledon sees Otto Virtanen battling on and off the court. Although the Finnish tennis pro emerged victorious on the grass courts at Wimbledon’s first-round match, miles away, his challenging times on the personal front had already begun as he lost his loved one. However, Virtanen is not the one to succumb to sorrow. Tackling both his professional and personal lives simultaneously, Virtanen is now all set to face his R2 opponent, Tommy Paul. But before that, he shared a heartwarming update on the tragedy.

For Otto Virtanen, it has been a week full of ups and downs, mixed with a wide range of emotions. The 23-year-old player had one goal in mind for Wimbledon: he wanted to qualify for the main draw and also attend his grandfather’s funeral in Finland. While the Finnish tennis pro succeeded in both, the road was difficult. Before the tournament began, the former World No. 109 headed to Helsinki and spent some intimate moments with his family during the funeral of his grandfather. 

Sharing a social media post, Virtanen wrote, “he didn’t miss a match….good bye grandad.” Laying bare his feelings on the subject, an emotional Virtanen told ATPTour.com, “I felt that it gave me more power and more strength to show that I had such good memories with him.  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.”

Further describing his emotions, the number 2 Finnish player added, “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…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.” After having an emotional farewell to his ever-supportive and “sporty” grandfather, Otto Virtanen chose not to let his emotions overpower his first opportunity to play at the Wimbledon draw match.

Therefore, Virtanen came back to London, fulfilling his dreams and moving forward with his goals. Utilizing his prowess on-court, Virtanen swept past three of his opponents in the qualifying round to reach his first-ever main draw at Wimbledon. And even then, Otto Virtanen did not stop but found a way to win against his first-round opponent as well.

After defeating Max Purcell in the first round of the draw, he is now gearing up to perform his best against the former Wimbledon champion, Tommy Paul. However, before that, Virtanen revealed what pushed him to keep on playing amid the challenging times.

Otto Virtanen revealed how he overcame the tough times and to keep on playing at Wimbledon 

Otto Virtanen, who described how on his way back to London he felt “empty”, did not let his emotions get the better of him. As soon as he hit the ground at Wimbledon, his emotions changed to “positives.” Sharing the thoughts that went around in his head at that time, Otto Virtanen said, “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.” 

For Virtanen, it was extra special, as this was the same place where he played his junior-level tournaments. Recalling those moments, he further added, “I saw how they do the things and wished I could play there one day and here I am playing here.”

With his goals set straight for this season at Wimbledon, Virtanen believes that his Grandpa will “always stay in my mind for all the matches.” And through fulfilling his dreams, Virtanen hopes to carry on his life with the loving memories of his grandfather.