Henri Laaksonen born ‘Henri Joona Julius Laaksonen’ on 31 March 1992, in Lohja, Finland, is a Swiss professional tennis player with a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 84 in 2022. His highest doubles ranking is world No. 191, as on 24 December 2018. He has been the No. 2 Swiss singles tennis player since 10 January 2022.
The reason for changing the right of representation was that the Swiss Federation provided significant support from the Valley in the early years of his professional career and that allowed him to play in the lowest level tournaments.
The right-hander hasn’t matched the careers of fellow Swiss Federer or Wawrinka, but Laaksonen has spent much of his career playing for ATP Ranking points on the ATP Challenger Tour.
“My career could be better, it could be worse, but I think I’m happy with what I’m doing, and I have been playing Grand Slams,” he said. “I think many players would be happy with the situation. Of course, everyone tries to do their best and be better ranked than they are at the moment. But I have nothing to complain about; I’m happy with the situation.”
Despite the difficulties he faced when switching teams he has persevered and keeps a positive and focused outlook on his career.
Biotable
| Age | 29 |
| Height | 6’1″(185cm) |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Coach | David Pultr |
| Turned professional | 2009 |
| Prize money | US$1,961,178 |
| Highest ranking | 84 |
| Current ranking | 84 |
| Social media profile | Twitter : @henri_laaksonen
Instagram : henrilaaksonen92 |
Personal Information and Relationships
Laaksonen’s father, Sandro Della Piana, is a former Swiss tennis player. His mother is from Finland.
He started playing tennis at the age of 3. He lived in Hyvinkää where he was coached by Pasi Virtanen.
Initially, he represented his country of birth, Finland. Since then, he has represented Switzerland.
Career
Davis Cup career and controversy
He was called to play for Switzerland for the first round against the Czech Republic in 2013.However, he was excluded from the team following his behavior during practice.
Wawrinka, who was the senior player on the team at the time said that he “never wants to be on a tennis court with him again”. Further to this, Wawrinka and Laaksonen never appeared together in a team competition.
Laaksonen was fined and received a formal warning from the Swiss Tennis Federation.
In 2015, he won his two singles in five sets against Ruben Bemelmans and Steve Darcis.
In September 2016, Laaksonen secured the winning points and 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 2020, Laaksonen won his first match but lost against the top Peruvian player Juan Pablo Varillas.
In 2021, Laaksonen won both singles matches as Switzerland won 5–0 against Estonia. He stepped out of the shadow of Roger Federer at the French Open on Wednesday, when he reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time and returned to playing clay court tennis on snow.
Prize Money Earnings
Laaksonen has won prize money amounting to US$1,961,178.
Net Worth
He has a net worth of USD1.5 million.
Endorsements and Sponsors
- Laaksonen has a sponsorship with Head. He wears Head clothing and Head Sprint SF shoes. He also plays Head tennis racquets.
Trivia
- 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.
- At the age of 18, Laaksonen changed his right of representation from Finnish to Swiss.
- Laaksonen’s food allergy cost him his performance in a few games. He used to have salmon at least three to four times per week. It was part of his daily diet but in February 2019, Laaksonen began to feel intense pain all around his body whenever he ate seafood. He’d been eating it for the past 20 years, but, all of a sudden, he had a strong hunch that he found the allergen. “I haven’t eaten that for one year now, and I haven’t had those problems anymore,” he said priotising his health and performance over his favorite food.
