Jannik Sinner (right) with Emil Ruusuvuori. © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / CLIVE BRUNSKILL

Emotional confession: Sinner's colleague moves the tennis world

While Jannik Sinner is being idolized by Italy's tennis fans in Rome these days, one of his colleagues creates touching moments with an emotional confession.

07 May 2025

From: det/dpa

Finnish tennis pro Emil Ruusuvuori has been absent from the ATP Tour for some time – now the 26-year-old says this was due to psychological stress. He suffered from recurring and increasing panic attacks and other mental health issues over the past year, the former world number 37 said in an Instagram post.

Ruusuvuori has a special relationship with South Tyrolean tennis star Jannik Sinner. Two years ago, the two spent a large part of their preseason training together in Alicante, Spain. "We get along well," Sinner said in an interview at the time. The two professionals have faced each other on court six times, with Ruusuvuori even winning once. However, due to his mental health issues, he recently took a months-long break from competition.

“I simply couldn’t go onto the pitch.” Emil Ruusuvuori

"For four and a half months, I didn't touch a tennis racket—I simply couldn't get on the court," he wrote. He emphasized that it was extremely important to take care of one's mental well-being. With this, the Finn addressed an issue that has long preoccupied the tennis scene and elite sport in general.

Ruusuvuori took a longer break. © APA / CLIVE BRUNSKILL

Among others, former world number one Naomi Osaka from Japan reported depression and anxiety a few years ago and later took a long break to protect her mental health.

Falling far behind in the world rankings

Ruusuvuori was long considered Finland's best tennis player. Over the course of his career, the right-hander defeated tennis greats such as Sinner, Germany's No. 2024 Alexander Zverev, and, at Wimbledon 10, Greek top-XNUMX player Stefanos Tsitsipas.

He is currently ranked number 235 in the men's world rankings. His last match on the ATP Tour was in Washington in July 2024. Since February this year, he has been playing tournaments again, but so far only at the lower Challenger and ITF levels.