CHINA OPEN

October 1, 2025

Harri Heliovaara

Henry Patten

Press Conference

HELIOVAARA-PATTEN/Khachanov-Rublev

4-6, 6-3, 10-8

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Harri and Henry. I've heard that you were so excited after winning the title here. Can you tell us how you are feeling right now.

HENRY PATTEN: Yeah, it's been a while since we've won a tournament, so... Yeah, it's been a lot of hard work and a lot of disappointing results. We've been pretty close. So yeah, we're extremely excited.

Yeah, obviously last year we were in the final and won the first set and ended up just losing a very close third set. It's really special to be able to do this. Makes it even more exciting that I'm doing it alongside Harri. He's one of my great friends and partners.

Yeah, there's no feeling in the world that kind of matches this. It's brilliant.

HARRI HELIOVAARA: Yeah, I mean, winning tournaments is what we do, that's why we practice, we put the hard work in. Our family is at home, missing them. This makes it all worth it.

Like Henry said, amazing partnership. Great friends with it. We can really enjoy this. Just remind ourselves was not a small tournament we just won. This is a big one with most of the top teams in the draw. We ended up here with the trophy. We can be very, very proud of ourselves.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Obviously a very good week. Didn't drop a set. Making it into the final today. Today a bit of a challenge. Can you talk through the match itself and the adjustments you made after the opening set that got you the win.

HARRI HELIOVAARA: Yeah, like you said, we played very, very good first two rounds. Really good. Felt like we were really back at it. We didn't lose a service game in those two rounds.

Yesterday had to really fight hard, which was different. We played a tough match. Almost two hours in the heat. Wow, we gave a lot of energy in that one.

Today, it's not easy against those guys. They served unbelievably well for one and a half sets. We kept telling ourselves, We will get a chance at one point. We got one chance and used it in the second set. Henry played an unbelievable game in that one.

Just belief. That's what we needed. It wasn't easy on the court at first. A little frustrated. I did not know what to do. Maybe missed a little bit our spots what we were wanting to do. Maybe weren't as offensive as we would have liked to be. Towards the end we executed better. Served so well in the tiebreak, which was the key. Just made them uncomfortable. That's what we wanted.

Q. I saw many Chinese fans turned out on the court to support you, cheer you on today. How did this atmosphere impact your performance? What is your take on the passionate Chinese fans here in Beijing?

HENRY PATTEN: Yeah, well, I've been here and played this tournament twice. I think in terms of the attendance, the doubles, early rounds, is kind of played on the outside courts. I'd say these tournaments have some of the best attendance in the world in terms of people being willing to watch doubles and supporting the players and really enjoying the tennis.

For us, that is a really big reason why we like to play. I mean, it sounds awful, but I really like to play tennis in front of people. It's part of my job to try and entertain people on the court, bring in money for the tournament. If I feel like I'm doing that, making a positive impact, it's brilliant.

Yeah, obviously we were lucky to play on Lotus Arena, as well. Yeah, today on Diamond Court. Diamond and Lotus, those two arenas are, again, some of the best in the world, some of the best facilities in the world. We're lucky to play a 500, where it's also a 1000 for the women. We kind of piggyback on that.

Yeah, it's definitely one of our favorite places to play. It's a little bit far away. It's challenging to get here. But once we're here, we love it.

Q. Is there anything you like to do in Beijing?

HENRY PATTEN: I'm desperate to go to the Great Wall. It's really difficult. Last year we made the final and this year we were also in the final and won it.

I mean, I was saying to Harri, we just have to go. We have to go. Yeah, maybe this afternoon or this evening we'll try and go.

Obviously it's difficult, because we have to go to Shanghai pretty quick. Maybe next year we won't do as well and we'll have the opportunity to, yeah, go and do some things.

But yeah, unfortunately we've been working pretty hard this week at the tournament, then resting at the hotel. Really haven't, unfortunately, had the opportunity to do a whole lot, which is sad (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.