COMMENTARY: An underrated top professional

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By Jarmo Färdig
     
      Jarkko Nieminen has played at or near the top of his chosen sport ever since the turn of the millennium - more than a decade.
      For all that, the 30-year-old tennis pro has often been stamped as a loser and a choker.
      The criticism is way out of line.
      At his highest, Nieminen has been ranked as No. 13 in the world on the ATP men's singles tables (in 2006), and he has ended every one of the years since he turned pro inside the top 100 players.
      This is a serious achievement in a discipline that is hugely competitive and with a worldwide base of players.
      Tennis is a big-money sport, and there are always plenty of takers for the top honours.
     
Nieminen has reached 12 ATP Tour finals during his career, with the first coming in Stockholm in 2001.
      He has won two of them.
      "Huh? Only two?" say his detractors.
      They pull up the number of times he has emerged as the defeated finalist - ten of them.
      What tends easily to get forgotten is that Finland's tennis No.1 has been the tournament runner-up on those weeks when he has reached the final.
      There is little shame in taking silver in most disciplines as far as Finnish athletes are concerned.
      Quite why there should be for a tennis player who has fought through to the last two men standing seems quixotic.
     
Nieminen's career has been quietly buried by the media and the public on several occasions.
      There have been times when it seemed that only the player himself and his inner circle held out any hope of a bright tomorrow on court.
      But Nieminen has kept on keeping on, and time and again he has bobbed back up to the surface like an obstinate angler's float.
      We saw this last autumn, when he again progressed to the Stockholm final (for a third time) after a campaign that had largely been wretched until that point.
      The 2011 tennis season was hampered by injuries and illness, and before a recovery in the fall he had slithered alarmingly down the rankings.
     
In November, Nieminen had an operation to remove his tonsils, and in December, rather than taking a vacation somewhere warm, he buckled down to practice with his coach Jan de Witt in the rather ascetic surroundings of Halle in Germany.
      Without injuries to hold him back, he enjoyed a productive close season and entered the fray, in his own words, better prepared than ever.
      This in turn bore fruit in an impressive long-distance run to the final and ultimate victory at the Apia International event in Sydney.
      On court we saw a different Nieminen from the player of old.
      He oozed relaxation and a sense of self-belief.
     
Nieminen's weapons have always been his speed and movement around the court, and a backhand return that even the great Roger Federer has said is among the best on the tour.
      Nieminen no longer needs to prove himself to anyone. These days he is responsible only to himself for his doings.
      The man can relish his long list of achievements, even if he is one of Finland's most underrated top sportsmen.
     
Jarkko says his main aim during the spring is to gather enough points to qualify for the London Olympics.
      The win in Sydney has brought this a great deal closer.
      Believe in him or not; it's up to you.
      Nieminen doesn't do believing. He knows.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 16.1.2012


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Jarkko Nieminen comes through in straight sets to win Sydney title (16.1.2012)

Links:
  Jarkko Nieminen website and blog

JARMO FÄRDIG / Helsingin Sanomat
jarmo.fardig@hs.fi