I grew up in a small town called Hyvinkää in Finland. Moving to New Zealand has been a dream for me for many years, so I made a decision to come to Raglan to make those dreams come true.
I started to play tennis with my parents and brother when I was around 5 years old. My family always made sure to travel with tennis rackets, so on every holiday we would spend a lot of time at the tennis courts. When I was 10, I began to play regularly in a local club and started to compete right away.
I played quite seriously until I was 17-18 years old - when I suffered an injury to my back. It took a long time to heal, and made competitive play difficult. I ended up coaching more to stay as involved as possible with the sport that I love. I represented my club for Finnish National League for many years and played tournaments in Finland, Germany and Estonia.
Coaching started as only a summer job for me when I was 13, but quite soon I found myself coaching a few times a week throughout the year. When I finished school it became my full-time job until I started studying at the Uni, at which point I coached only part-time again so I could focus on my studies.
I grew up with tennis, and from the very beginning I have had a passion for it. It has given me so much - my friends, my profession, opportunities to travel, and many great memories. Now, I am here in New Zealand - my dream destination - and found myself running a Tennis Academy so tennis has truly changed my life.