Finland is not exactly the country that comes to mind when talking about rich tennis history. Their best player in history was Jarkko Nieminen. While his career high rank of number thirteen and two career titles is nothing to scoff at, it’s far from tennis royalty.
Why’s this all relevant? Looking to become the first Finnish player to win a title since Nieminen is Emil Ruusuvuori. The cagey twenty-three-year-old broke into the top 50 this year thanks in large part to his professional attitude and hardworking mentality.
He reached his first career final in Pune, India and has scored wins over the likes of Francis Tiafoe and Lorenzo Sonego in the process.
This is far from the first time Emil has shown promise: he defeated then-top 10 Dominic Thiem in straight sets during a Davis Cup rubber back in 2019. As we do here, though, we’re going to talk about Emil’s equipment…as usual, it’s not quite what it appears to be.
- Endorsed Racquet: Head Auxetic Speed
- Actual Racquet: Head Graphene Touch Speed MP AKA TGT 301.4
- Strings: Head Hawk Power – soon to be released at retail!
Speed City
Quite a fitting racquet name for a player with big groundstrokes on both sides, Emil endorses the current Head Auxetic Speed line. He does play with a speed; however, it is an old mold in the form of the Head Graphene Touch Speed MP (Pro Stock Code TGT 301.4).
This is evident by the 16×19 string pattern and shared holes throughout the frame, indicative of this Speed iteration. The throat geometry is also different than other versions.
- Emil using the Touch Speed MP a few years back
The Specs
Ruusuvuori uses a large bit of lead tape in the hoop of his racquets and because Head’s team at their Austrian headquarters customizes many pros’ racquets, we can assume there is silicone in the handle and perhaps some lead hiding under the bumper guard as well.
The only information on Emil’s strung specs are that his unstrung swingweight comes in at a more-than-modest 315. That equates to somewhere between 345-350 all strung up with polyester. This allows him to hit a heavy, penetrating ball with ease even at the pro level.
When many pro swingweights ten or more years ago used to push 370 or more, 340-350 seems to be about the average on tour these days with many players using values in the 330s and some notably even lower.
This seems to refute the notion that ALL pros use super heavy, stable racquets out of necessity, but that’s a conversation for another day.
Strings
Emil has been using a string exclusively for pro players from Head, coded Hawk 3, for some time. This string is now releasing at retail under the name “Hawk Power” and has received some positive fanfare in the tennis community as “Classified” test sets circulate for playtests and other promotions.
It’s reportedly a poly that plays with control and spin of stiffer, traditional polys while maintaining comfort and tension maintenance found in newer generation synthetic strings. Interestingly, his strings are white while the retail release is a “petrol” color. Ruusuvuori’s tension is not known.
Final Thoughts On Emil’s Racquet
As we can see, the young Fin’s racquet is set up for a good balance of power and control which matches his game. He has wonderful footwork and a tenacious attitude that serve him well on the court.
Though I wouldn’t write home about any of his strokes, there’s hardly anything negative to say either. I personally think he’s getting ready to Speed up the rankings next year as his game and confidence continue to mature. The future should be bright for this Fin!
If you’re interested in other ATP players’ racquets, I listed all the top 100 players’ racquets in this post.