The eighth tennis player in the world made a real feat in Madrid. On the “red letter”, Andrej does not lose in the match for the title.
Source: Thomas COEX / AFP / Profimedia
An interesting symbolism is that Rubljov defeated Novak Djokovic in Belgrade on Easter two years ago and won the “Serbia Open 2022” tournament. A year later, in 2023, he also triumphed in the Monte Carlo final on a major religious holiday, defeating Holger Rune. Symbolism that his fans will surely pay attention to in the coming years as well.
“I have no words, if you knew what I went through in the previous nine days, you wouldn’t have imagined that I would be able to win the title. I am extremely happy, that one Sunday changed everything, because now it looks like I didn’t lose in the previous Sundays first rounds!” said Rubljov after the triumph and his second title this season, after winning Hong Kong.
“I was almost dead, every day”
Source: Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP / Profimedia
In the final against Alijas, Rubljov got off to a bad start, the Canadian won the first set, but changed everything in the 12th game of the second set, when he won the “break” and started strongly towards the 16th title in his career. “This is the trophy I am most proud of in my career. I was almost dead every day, I didn’t sleep at night… For the last three, four days I didn’t sleep at all,” he said.
On the way to the final, Rubljov dominated Carlos Alcaraz, who in the meantime withdrew from Rome due to injury, and then eliminated Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals. On the other hand, Felix-Ože Alijasim had the incredible situation that as many as three players against him surrendered their matches due to injuries, including Janik Siner, the hero from the shadows of Jirži Lehečka…
From Monday, the attention of tennis fans will shift to Rome, where the draw for the last Masters before Roland Garros will be held. It will also be Novak Djokovic’s last test for the French Open, after almost a month of the all-time great’s break.
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