LI’s Rubin Earns Australian Open Wild Card Spot
Long Island’s Noah Rubin will begin his 2016 campaign in Melbourne at the Australian Open after winning the USTA’s Australian Open Wild Card Challenge to earn a main draw spot in the year’s first Grand Slam.
After winning his first title on the Challenger tour in Charlottesville a few weeks ago, he clinched the Wild Card Challenge when fellow American Taylor Fritz lost in Sunday’s final in Champaign, Michigan.
“It’s probably the first time I had to rely on somebody else to lose for me to win, in a match I had nothing to do with,” Rubin told ATPWorldTour.com. “I didn’t expect that outcome, but I’m excited to see what’s going to come in the future. I’ve never been to the Australian Open before, even for juniors. I’m going to have to get acclimated to the temperature for sure, but I’m just excited about going there.”
Rubin’s recent play has catapulted him into 339th in the world, one of five American teenagers ranked inside the top 350.
“It’s just about having the mindset of being open and ready for anything,” said Rubin. “I was ranked No. 1,000 going out of school, and now I’m around 350. In a couple of tournaments, I could be at No. 250. It could happen so quickly. Just be ready for anything.’
Rubin made his Grand Slam debut at the 2014 U.S. Open, where he fell to Argentinean Federico Delbonis in straight sets.
