Dominic Thiem joins Vienna crowd in singing "happy birthday" for Andrey Rublev during exhibition match

Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem joins Vienna crowd and sings "Happy Birthday" to Russian sensation Andrey Rublev during an exhibition match ahead of the 2023 Vienna Open, celebrating Rublev's 26th birthday.

The Vienna Open is scheduled to take place from October 23th to October 29th, 2023, making it one of the final two ATP 500 events of the year. The 2023 edition will showcase notable tennis stars including Rublev, Jannik Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, Karen Khachanov, and the defending champion, Daniil Medvedev.

A video shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday featured Dominic Thiem helping to sing the birthday song, with Rublev reciprocating by giving him a warm hug.

Born in Moscow on October 20, 1997, he shares the same name as his father, Andrey Rublev Sr., a former professional boxer who transitioned into a restaurant manager, and Marina Marenko, who serves as a tennis coach at the Spartak Tennis Club.

The Russian tennis sensation has secured four doubles championships and clinched victories in 14 singles tournaments. He reached his career-high ATP ranking of No. 5 in September 2021 and presently maintains the same ranking on the ATP charts.

Dominic Thiem and Andrey Rublev have faced each other in seven competitive matches.

Head to Head, Dominic Thiem & Rublev

Throughout their careers, the duo of 26-year-old Andrey Rublev and 30-year-old Dominic Thiem have competed against each other in seven matches on the tennis court.

Their first encounter took place at the 2017 Vienna Open, when the 20-year-old Russian, Rublev, was defeated by Dominic Thiem with a score of 6-4, 6-3. The following year, in 2018, at the ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo, Dominic Thiem again emerged victorious, this time with a closely contested match ending 5-7, 7-5, 7-5.

There was a significant shift in their head-to-head record as Rublev secured his first win against Thiem when they faced each other for the third time. This victory came in Hamburg in 2019, with Rublev triumphing 7-6(3), 7-6(5).

In 2020, Rublev added to his success by defeating Thiem in the quarterfinals of the Vienna Open with a score of 7-6(5), 6-2. Additionally, in 2020, they had another match at the Nitto ATP Finals in Britain, where Andrey Rublev emerged victorious with a score of 6-2, 7-5.

Their most recent encounters have both ended in victories for Andrey Rublev. In the semi-finals in Gijon in 2022, Rublev won with a score of 6-4, 6-4. In their most recent match, which took place in the first round of the Australian Open in 2023, Rublev triumphed with a score of 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.