Henri Joona Julius Laaksonen (Finnish: [ˈhenri ˈlɑːksonen],[1] Swiss Standard German: [ˈhɛnriː ˈlaːksonɛn]; born 31 March 1992) is a Swiss professional tennis player. His highest singles ranking is world No. 84, which he achieved on 14 February 2022, and his highest doubles ranking is world No. 191, achieved on 24 December 2018.

Henri Laaksonen
Laaksonen at the 2022 French Open
Country (sports) Finland (2009−2010)
 Switzerland (2011–present)
ResidenceZürich, Switzerland
Born (1992-03-31) 31 March 1992 (age 32)
Lohja, Finland
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro2009
PlaysRight-handed
(two-handed backhand)
Prize money$2,376,339
Singles
Career record51–75
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 84 (14 February 2022)
Current rankingNo. 660 (22 April 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2019)
French Open3R (2021)
Wimbledon1R (2017, 2022)
US Open3R (2021)
Doubles
Career record3–15
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 191 (24 December 2018)
Last updated on: 25 April 2024.

Early life

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Laaksonen's father, Sandro Della Piana, is a former Swiss tennis player. His mother is from Finland. His parents separated very early in his life, but he nonetheless kept contact with his father.

He started playing tennis at the age of 3. During his adolescent years he lived in Hyvinkää where he was coached by Pasi Virtanen. At 16, he became European champion for the Under-16s category.

In 2009, he moved to Switzerland to train at the Swiss Tennis National Tennis Center in Bienne.

Before January 2011, he represented his country of birth, Finland. Since then, he has represented Switzerland.[2]

Professional career

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2021: Two Major third rounds & two top-20 wins, back to top 100 in two years

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Laaksonen won the biggest match of his career at the 2021 French Open against world No. 11 Roberto Bautista Agut in four sets in order to advance to a Grand Slam third round for the first time in his career.[3]

At the 2021 US Open he reached the third round of a Major only for the second time in his career defeating world No. 19 and sixteenth seed Cristian Garín in four sets.[4]

He won his sixth Challenger title at the 2021 Open d'Orléans defeating Dennis Novak. As a result, he returned to the top 100 at world No. 98 on 4 October 2021, five spots shy of his career-high ranking of No. 93 reached more than two years ago on 15 July 2019.

2022: Career-high in top 85, year-end ranking out of top 150

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He reached a career-high ranking of World No. 84 on 14 February 2022 after qualifying for the 2022 Rotterdam Open. As of 20 June 2022 he became the No. 1 Swiss player ahead of Roger Federer before being overtaken on 29 August 2022 by Marc-Andrea Huesler.

He reached the Challenger final in Hamburg, losing to compatriot Alexander Ritschard, after he retired in the second set when Ritschard was 7–5, 6–5 up and had 40–30 on his service game, climbing 9 positions back to No. 171 in the singles rankings on 24 October 2022.[5][6] He reached another final at the Challenger in Roanne losing to Hugo Gaston and climbed 27 positions up to No. 155 on 14 November 2022. He finished the year ranked No. 171 on 21 November 2022.

2023-2024: Out of top 500, hiatus

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He fell out of the top 200 to No. 203 on 20 March 2023 and of top 500 on 13 November 2023.

Davis Cup career and controversy

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He initially was called to play for Switzerland for the first round against the Czech Republic in 2013. In September 2013, Switzerland played against Ecuador in Neuchâtel for the Davis Cup World Group play-off. Laaksonen was called to play with Stanislas Wawrinka, Marco Chiudinelli, and Michael Lammer. However, Laaksonen was excluded from the team following his behavior during Thursday practice.

Wawrinka said: "There are very few promising young players [in Switzerland]. Unfortunately, among them, there are some who believe that everything is allowed and everything is granted for free. If Henri is not here today, it is because there are certain things we cannot accept. I also dislike his behaviour. Someone in his age, with his ranking and who has been supported by Swiss Tennis for many years and thinks he can not fully commit to a practice session and even complains about the coach, cannot be part of the team". Wawrinka added that he "never wants to be on a tennis court with him again".[7] Further to this tie, Wawrinka and Laaksonen never appeared together in a team competition.

Laaksonen later was fined and received a formal warning from the Swiss Tennis Federation. The amount of the fine never was disclosed.[8]

He was left out from the first round tie of the World Group against Serbia in February 2014, but called back for the second round tie in Geneva against Kazakhstan in April 2014. He replaced Chiudinelli, who had won the doubles in Serbia (with Lammer). However, Laaksonen did not play in any of the rubbers as the top players Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka were in both the singles matches and the doubles. Switzerland won the tie with 3:2. For the semifinal against Italy in September 2014, Laaksonen was not part of the team. He was replaced by Chiudinelli. For the final against France, Chiudinelli and Lammer were nominated.

In 2015, after talks with the team and the captain, Laaksonen was called upon to play in the first round against Belgium in Liège. He won his two singles in five sets against Ruben Bemelmans and Steve Darcis. He took on the leader role for the young team present.

In September 2016, Switzerland played against Uzbekistan in Tashkent in the world-group playoffs. Laaksonen was again the Swiss team leader and secured the winning points. Because of its victory against Uzbekistan, Switzerland remained in the World Group.

For the 2017 Davis Cup World Group, Laaksonen played both singles and doubles in Switzerland's tie with the United States. In the World Group play-offs against Belarus, despite losing his first singles rubber, Laaksonen defeated Dzmitry Zhyrmont with Switzerland behind 2−1 in the tie. The team won the final rubber and remained in the World Group.

Laaksonen opened Switzerland's 2018 Davis Cup World Group tie against Kazakhstan, losing in four sets. He won both his singles matches in the World Group Play-off tie against Sweden, but these were the only points Switzerland registered as the team was relegated from the World Group.

Laaksonen was again the Swiss number one in the first tie of the newly formatted 2019 Davis Cup, with Switzerland playing Russia on February 1 and 2, 2019 in the qualifying round, at the Swiss Tennis Arena in Biel. Switzerland lost the tie 1–3 and then lost to Slovakia in September. Due to this performance, Switzerland was relegated to the second division.

In 2020, away against Peru in Lima, Laaksonen won his first match but lost the decisive rubber against the top Peruvian player Juan Pablo Varillas, resulting in Switzerland's relegation to Group II, the third level of world's tennis.[9]

In 2021, Laaksonen won both singles matches as Switzerland won 5–0 against Estonia in World Group II.[10]

Performance timelines

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

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Current through the 2023 Wimbledon qualifying.

Finland Switzerland
Tournament 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A A Q1 A Q1 Q1 Q1 2R Q1 1R 1R Q2 0 / 3 1–3
French Open A A A A A Q1 A Q2 Q1 Q2 2R 1R 3R 2R Q1 0 / 4 4–4
Wimbledon A A A A Q2 Q1 A Q1 1R Q2 Q1 NH Q1 1R Q1 0 / 2 0–2
US Open A A A A Q1 A A Q3 1R Q1 2R A 3R Q1 A 0 / 3 3–3
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–2 0–0 3–3 0–1 4–3 1–3 0–0 0 / 12 8–12
National representation
Davis Cup Z2 A A A 1R A 1R 1R 1R 1R QR WG1 WG2 WG1 A 0 / 5 14–12
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A A A 2R Q1 Q1 NH A 1R A 0 / 2 1–2
Miami Open A A A A A A A A Q1 Q1 Q1 NH Q1 2R A 0 / 1 0–1
Monte-Carlo Masters A A A A A A A A A A A NH Q2 Q1 A 0 / 0 0–0
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A A 1R A 0 / 1 0–1
Shanghai Masters A A A A A A A A Q2 A A NH 0 / 0 0–0
Paris Masters A A A A A A A A A A A A Q1 A 0 / 0 0–0
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–3 0–0 0 / 4 1–4
Career statistics
Tournaments 0 0 0 2 4 3 2 4 10 4 8 5 8 14 0 64
Overall win–loss 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–2 3–5 1–3 3–2 3–6 11–12 7–5 6–12 2–6 9–7 5–15 0–0 51–75
Year-end ranking 1386 1202 588 291 244 318 181 136 121 169 104 134 98 172 567 43%

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

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Singles: 18 (8–10)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (6–4)
ITF Futures (2–6)
Finals by surface
Hard (6–6)
Clay (1–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (1–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jan 2011 Israel F1, Eilat Futures Hard   Valery Rudnev 3–6, 1–6
Loss 0–2 Oct 2011 Kuwait F2, Mishref Futures Hard   Julien Dubail 3–6, 6–4, 4–6
Loss 0–3 Mar 2012 Switzerland F1, Taverne Futures Carpet (i)   Moritz Baumann 4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Loss 0–4 Sep 2012 Portugal F4, Espinho Futures Clay   Jiří Veselý 2–6, 4–6
Loss 0–5 Sep 2012 Portugal F5, Porto Futures Clay   Marc Giner 6–7(6–8), 2–6
Win 1–5 Mar 2014 Switzerland F1, Taverne Futures Carpet (i)   Tim Pütz 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(8–6)
Win 2–5 Nov 2015 Champaign, United States Challenger Hard (i)   Taylor Fritz 4–6, 6–2, 6–2
Win 3–5 Nov 2015 USA F34, Waco Futures Hard (i)   Sekou Bangoura 6–3, 4–6, 6–1
Loss 3–6 Mar 2016 USA F11, Calabasas Futures Hard   Matthew Barton 6–7(6–8), 3–6
Win 4–6 Sep 2016 Shanghai, China, P.R. Challenger Hard   Jason Jung 6–3, 6–3
Win 5–6 Nov 2016 Champaign, United States (2) Challenger Hard (i)   Ruben Bemelmans 7–5, 6–3
Loss 5–7 Aug 2018 Chengdu, China, P.R. Challenger Hard   Zhang Ze 6–2, 2–5 ret.
Win 6–7 Feb 2019 Bangkok, Thailand Challenger Hard   Dudi Sela 6–2, 6–4
Win 7–7 May 2019 Rome, Italy Challenger Clay   Gian Marco Moroni 6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–2), 6–2
Loss 7–8 Jul 2021 Braunschweig, Germany Challenger Clay   Daniel Altmaier 1–6, 2–6
Win 8–8 Sep 2021 Orléans, France Challenger Hard (i)   Dennis Novak 6–1, 2–6, 6–2
Loss 8–9 Oct 2022 Hamburg, Germany Challenger Hard (i)   Alexander Ritschard 5–7, 5–6 ret.
Loss 8–10 Nov 2022 Roanne, France Challenger Hard (i)   Hugo Gaston 7–6(8–6), 5–7, 1–6

Doubles: 12 (4–8)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (2–3)
ITF Futures (2–5)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–3)
Clay (1–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (2–2)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Mar 2009 Switzerland F2,
Greifensee
Futures Carpet (i)   Philipp Oswald   Dustin Brown
  Alexander Sadecky
6–1, 6–4
Loss 1–1 Aug 2009 Geneva,
Switzerland
Challenger Clay   Philipp Oswald   Diego Álvarez
  Juan-Martín Aranguren
4–6, 6–4, [2–10]
Loss 1–2 Oct 2011 Kuwait F2,
Meshref
Futures Hard   Luca Margaroli   Florian Fallert
  Nils Langer
4–6, 6–7(6–8)
Loss 1–3 Sep 2012 Portugal F4,
Espinho
Futures Clay   Fede Valsangiacomo   Stephan Fransen
  Wesley Koolhof
5–7, 2–6
Loss 1–4 Mar 2014 Switzerland F1,
Taverne
Futures Carpet (i)   Laurynas Grigelis   Jesper Brunström
  Frederik Nielsen
4–6, 6–7(4–7)
Win 2–4 Mar 2014 Switzerland F2,
Trimbach
Futures Carpet (i)   Luca Margaroli   Denis Matsukevich
  Matteo Volante
6–2, 6–2
Loss 2–5 Jan 2015 Germany F1,
Schwieberdingen
Futures Carpet (i)   Victor Vlad Cornea   Fabian Fallert
  Florian Fallert
4–6, 3–6
Loss 2–6 Mar 2016 USA F11,
Calabasas
Futures Hard   Marek Michalička   Nicolas Meister
  Eric Quigley
6–4, 2–6, [3–10]
Loss 2–7 Jul 2018 Marburg,
Germany
Challenger Clay   Luca Margaroli   Fabrício Neis
  David Vega Hernández
6–4, 4–6, [8–10]
Win 3–7 Jul 2018 Båstad,
Sweden
Challenger Clay   Harri Heliövaara   Zdeněk Kolář
  Gonçalo Oliveira
6–4, 6–3
Loss 3–8 Oct 2018 Fairfield,
United States
Challenger Hard   Harri Heliövaara   Sanchai Ratiwatana
  Christopher Rungkat
0–6, 6–7(9–11)
Win 4–8 Nov 2018 Charlottesville,
United States
Challenger Hard (i)   Harri Heliövaara   Toshihide Matsui
  Frederik Nielsen
6–3, 6–4

Record against top 10 players

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Laaksonen's match record against players who have been ranked world No. 10 or higher is as follows, with those who have been No. 1 in boldface. Only ATP Tour main draw and Davis Cup matches are considered.

* As of 5 September 2023.

References

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  1. ^ "The pronunciation by Henri Laaksonen himself". ATPWorldTour.com. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  2. ^ "Henri Laaksonen siirtyy edustamaan Sveitsiä". tennis.fi. Suomen Tennisliitto. Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
  3. ^ "Hold The Salmon! Laaksonen Is Catch Of The Day In Paris | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  4. ^ "Qualifiers Make Huge Impact at the 2021 US Open". September 2, 2021.
  5. ^ "#NextGenATP Cerundolo, Bellucci Continue Challenger Tour Hot Streak | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  6. ^ "Ritschard Reigns In Hamburg, Lifts Maiden Challenger Trophy". October 23, 2022.
  7. ^ 20 min:http://www.20min.ch/ro/sports/tennis/story/11538253; Blick: http://www.blick.ch/sport/tennis/eklat-im-schweizer-davis-cup-team-id2440587.html
  8. ^ "Davis-Cup-Eklat: Busse und Verwarnung für Henri Laaksonen – Tennis – Blick". www.blick.ch. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27.
  9. ^ "Without Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, Switzerland loses Davis Cup tie to Peru". Tennis World USA. 8 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Davis Cup – Draws & Results". www.daviscup.com.
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