LI’s Rubin Battles Into Final Round of U.S. Open Qualifying

August 25, 2016 | By Brian Coleman

In a complete juxtaposition to his first-round qualifying match on Wednesday, Long Island’s Noah Rubin had to go the distance on Thursday, staving off Germany’s Michael Berrer and a rain delay to advance to the final round of U.S. Open qualifying with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory.

Rubin broke to open up the match and went on to dominate the first set on his way to a 6-2 opening set victory. But at 2-3 in the second set, the skies opened up and play was suspended. When play was resumed, the players would hold serve until Rubin was serving to stay in the set at 5-4, and Berrer broke to send the match into a deciding third.

“It was tough. I wasn’t going in [to the rain delay] with a bad attitude. I came out, was able to hold right away, but it was definitely tough to lose that second set afterwards,” said Rubin. “But I felt like I was in better shape, I felt like I could really push it for three sets. And I was just trying to be mentally strong at the end.”

The 20-year old saved his best for this last. Showing no signs of the ankle injury which kept him out of most of the grass-court season, Rubin broke for a 2-1 lead in the third set, and showed a lot of guts in his next four service games, holding in all of them to close out the victory and advance.

“That break means a great deal, and every service game from there you just have to grind out,” said Rubin. “It was really enjoyable. I’m glad a lot of people stayed past the rain delay.”

Rubin now moves on to play third-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov, who was a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Spain’s Adrian Menendez-Maceiras on Thursday.

“Noah played an excellent first set, starting with a break in the very first game. He had some chances to break early in the second set and didn’t convert and ended up dropping the set,” said Lawrence Klegler, Director at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy and Rubin’s personal coach. “But in typical Noah fashion, he toughed out a close third set. We know as we move on and the competition gets better, so will Noah’s game.”

Being a New Yorker, Rubin knows how important the U.S. Open is, but his mindset has matured after his tournaments here the last two years.

“I’ve gotten past the hype of playing in the U.S. Open. It’s been a really tough few tournaments for me here. I’ve played some ok matches, but the pressure and the hype has really gotten to me in those matches,” said Rubin. “It’s just another tournament, tomorrow is another match. I know it’s cliché but that’s how I have to approach it.”

Americans Jessica Pegula, CiCi Bellis and Alexander Sarkissian also advanced to the final round of qualifying on Thursday. 


Brian Coleman
Senior Editor, Long Island Tennis Magazine
Brian Coleman is the Senior Editor for Long Island Tennis Magazine. He may be reached at brianc@usptennis.com.
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