LI’s Rubin Upends Paire Down Under
Noah Rubin earned his first win at a major Monday with a big 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) victory over the 17th-seeded Benoit Paire of France at the 2016 Australian Open.
Rubin, currently ranked 328th in the world, received a wild card entry into the main draw as part of an agreement between the U.S. and Australian tennis associations. He had only played one previous Grand Slam match, a straight-sets loss to Argentina's Federico Delbonis in the first round of the 2014 U.S. Open.
"My girlfriend's sending me pictures—I'm trending on Twitter. I mean, that stuff is cool," said Rubin, the 2014 Junior Wimbledon champ. "People have done way better than me at my age. People have won Slams at my age, so winning one round is not too terrific."
After the match, Paire was clearly not happy with how the match went.
"I played against a not-good player, but I was very bad today so that's it, I lost," he said.
While that was Paire's view of the match, Lawrence Kleger, Director of The John McEnroe Tennis Academy and Noah's longtime coach had a different perspective of Rubins first round win.
“I am very excited by Noah’s win, but not that surprised. He’s won at every level. Paire is not the first victim to say that Noah is 'not that good'," said Kleger. "Fortunately, it is a long list of names with many more to be added.”
Rubin now advances to round two where he will face another Frenchman, qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
"I love being in the spotlight," Rubin said. "I hope I don't come off cocky or arrogant, but I do enjoy playing in the spotlight. I've always played my best tennis."
