Andrey Rublev's Gift from God: Russian keeps alive incredible streak of winning title on Orthodox Easter Sunday with Madrid Open triumph
The day of Andrey Rublev's triumph at the 2024 Madrid Open was part of an interesting streak of the Russian winning a title on the same day as the Orthodox Easter Sunday.
Easter Sunday is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The holiday is celebrated differently by Orthodox and non-Orthodox Christians based on differing calendars. Orthodox Christians follow the Julian calendar, which is based on the solar cycle, and observe Easter later than non-orthodox Christians.
This year, the Orthodox Easter Sunday fell on May 5, the exact same day that Andrey Rublev, an orthodox Christian himself, won the 2024 Madrid Open. Rublev came back a set down to defeat Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to win his second Masters-1000 tournament.
The Russian was on a poor run before Madrid, losing four consecutive matches in straight sets. However, he turned around his form in the most spectacular fashion by defeating Facundo Bagnis, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Tallon Griekspoor, two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, and Auger-Aliassime en route to his second title in 2024.
Rublev's victory in Madrid is his third ATP Tour-level triumph that coincided with Orthodox Easter Sunday in three successive years. In 2023, the festival was celebrated on April 16, the day on which Rublev emerged as champion at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The 26-year-old bettered the likes of Karen Khachanov, Taylor Fritz, and Holger Rune to win his maiden title at the Masters 1000 level.
In 2022, Andrey Rublev lifted his 11th tour-level title at the Serbia Open. The title contest in Belgrade took place on April 24, 2022, the day of Orthodox Easter Sunday. Even more interestingly, the Russian defeated home hero Novak Djokovic, in the final of the ATP 250 tournament.
Rublev was the No. 2 seed at the 2022 Serbia Open and defeated Jiri Lehecka, Taro Daniel, and Fabio Fognini before downing Djokovic in the final.
Andrey Rublev is the first man to win singles and doubles titles at Madrid Open
Andrey Rublev has become the first man to win both singles and doubles titles at the Madrid Open after his win in the former category this year. The Russian won the doubles title in the Spanish capital last year, along with compatriot Karen Khachanov.
The unseeded pair defeated Alex de Minaur-Grigor Dimitrov, No. 5 seeds mate Pavic-Nikola Mektic, Jamie Murray-Michael Venus, No. 4 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer- Marcelo Arevalo, and No. 7 seeds Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden to win first Masters-1000 title as a pair in 2023.
Dominic Thiem was the only player who got the closest to winning the Madrid Open in singles and doubles. The former US Open champion reached the singles final at La Caja Magica in 2017 and 2018 but lost the title to Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev, respectively.
In 2019, he again reached the final in Madrid, but this time in the doubles. He linked up with Argentine star Diego Schwartzman, and they navigated their way to a maiden Masters 1000 doubles final before losing to Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.