Andrey Rublev becomes first tennis player to win 40 or more matches every year this decade

Andrey Rublev made a winning start to his BNP Paribas Nordic Open campaign in Stockholm on Thursday, defeating France’s Alexandre Muller in his opening match at the indoor event, 6-4, 6-1.

It was Rublev’s 40th win of the year, continuing a trend for one of the most consistent players on the men’s tour these days—he’s now won 40 or more matches every year so far this decade.

RUBLEV’S WIN-LOSS RECORDS THIS DECADE (tour-level):
2020: 41-10
2021: 53-23
2022: 51-20
2023: 56-26
2024: 40-20

There’s something even more special about his latest achievement: Rublev is actually the first tennis player, male or female, to win 40 or more matches every year so far this decade.

And only one other player can do the same: Novak Djokovic.

The bottleneck for this stat was the 2020 season, which was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That year, Rublev and Djokovic were the only two players, male or female, with 40 or more wins on the year, both finishing the season with 41.

Djokovic, fresh off a final appearance in Shanghai, is currently at 37 wins this year, so with three more wins, he’ll match Rublev’s feat.

DJOKOVIC'S WIN-LOSS RECORDS THIS DECADE (tour-level):
2020: 41-5
2021: 55-7
2022: 42-7
2023: 56-7
2024: 37-9

Rublev exacted revenge over Muller in the Swedish capital on Thursday for a loss in the third round of Rome earlier this year—the Frenchman got him in the Italian capital, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The revenge win put Rublev through to his 12th quarterfinal of the year. He’s a two-time champion this year in Hong Kong and Madrid, a one-time runner-up in Montreal, a two-time semifinalist in Dubai and Umag and a six-time quarterfinalist at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Doha, Washington D.C., Cincinnati and Beijing.

Awaiting the world No. 7 in the quarterfinals is former No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, who edged Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.