Why the Heliovaara Renaissance is one of the most interesting stories in tennis

When Harri Heliovaara stopped playing tennis 11 years ago, he was happy with what he had accomplished. Reaching the Top 200 in the PIF ATP Rankings was a great achievement, especially for a player from Finland.

More than a decade later, the Helsinki-native has crafted one of the most interesting stories in the sport by becoming one of the best doubles players in the world.

Stepping foot on a competitive court again seemed unlikely when Heliovaara first hung up his racquets in 2013. He had been struggling physically and his results began to follow.

“I felt like I always had a good Plan B, going back to school,” Heliovaara told ATPTour.com. “I had a place in the university already after high school, I had applied for it. I just didn't start immediately. So in 2013 I decided to go back there.”

Heliovaara earned a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree from Aalton University in a bit less than four years. He also enjoyed internships with consulting firm McKinsey and a private equity firm.

“That also gave me another perspective. It was very interesting. Of course those are very high profile jobs,” Heliovaara said. “You’re working long hours, 16 hours a day. It feels like I didn’t do anything but work sometimes.”

His days were consumed with much more than books and the office. He would arrive at Helsinki Airport at 5 a.m. each morning to serve as a passenger guide.

“I was in the departures area guiding passengers to their check-in areas. And then at some other times I was guiding the arriving passengers,” Heliovaara said. “I enjoyed that a lot. Aviation is a passion
of mine and airports, they always have a special atmosphere. People leaving, arriving. It's a nice place.”

Most importantly, Heliovaara met his wife, Sini, at the airport, where she still works. Heliovaara was so interested in aviation that once his studies finished, he applied to become a pilot at an airline, but did not pass the medical.

The physical struggles that hindered the end of his tennis career were still proving problematic, especially with his back. Eventually the Finn was diagnosed with Ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory disease that affects the spine.

It was not until 2016 that doctors found medicine that helped, requiring Heliovaara to give himself a shot every four weeks.

“We have had to change the medicine once already to a different shot, but I still take it every four weeks. I still have some problems,” Heliovaara said. “I have had some eye infections a couple of times, some skin problems, all that comes with the back disease. But I found a way to live with it and feel good and do sports, which is an amazing thing for me.”

It was a memorable period of Heliovaara’s life. He also did part-time office work for the Finnish Tennis Federation. “It was very interesting. I liked that part of my life a lot,” he said.

From school to his internships and airport work, he was certainly well engaged: “Of course I enjoyed it. I was learning a lot, but there was some fire still inside of me that wanted to be a tennis player.”

In 2017, the Finnish Tennis Federation asked him to play Davis Cup. Heliovaara had not been practising much, so he took two months with his fitness coach to properly get into shape. He played two ties early in the year, including one with Henri Kontinen, who that same week reached No. 1 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings.

“That's something special. At that time, I was thinking that I always loved doubles when I was younger, I just didn't try for doubles. So maybe if that's something I didn't do when I was younger, should I have done that?” Heliovaara wondered. “The Olympics were coming in 2020. Kontinen was No. 1, and maybe there was a chance for me to get into the Olympics if I was good enough that he chose me.”

Heliovaara nor Kontinen competed in the Tokyo Olympics, but Heliovaara returned to professional tennis. Having never cracked the Top 100 in singles or doubles in his first go, he reached a career-high No. 7 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings last year.

The Finn enjoyed his highest highs with Briton Lloyd Glasspool. The pair won three ATP Tour titles together and reached another seven finals, qualifying for the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals. Last year, Heliovaara won the US Open mixed doubles trophy with Anna Danilina.

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Now Heliovaara plays alongside Henry Patten, with whom he won this year’s Bucharest title and could lift the Lyon trophy Saturday.

“Without that medicine I probably wouldn't be playing tennis,” Heliovaara said. “I appreciate that I can be healthy and do what I love. That's one of the main things why all of this is so great to me and why I've enjoyed playing the big events, why every day when I get the chance, I just like to be on court and do my best.

“I know that it could have been a very, very different situation for me if I didn't come back to tennis and find the right medicine, the right help for my health. I would probably be somewhere else working in an office and not enjoying that as much as I do tennis right now.”

Aged 34, Heliovaara has been thrilled the past few years to compete at the biggest tournaments in the world for the first time. He has also admitted that “when you get older, you get wiser”, and has been taking better care of his body, eating healthier and sometimes traveling with a physio to ensure he gives himself the best chance to perform at the highest level.

“I know why I'm doing this, I'm doing it for myself. I'm not doing it for anyone. I don't feel pressure from the outside. I also know what the other part of life is, the office, the work. I'm not trying to say that it was bad,” Heliovaara said. “But since I know that I only have one life, maybe this was the last opportunity to try tennis if I wanted to.”

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