In what could only be called a fight to the end, Long Island hopeful Noah Rubin was unable to move to the next round at the U.S. Open Qualifying rounds today.
Earlier this week, the USTA announced eight wildcard entries into the Qualifying Tournament and Rubin was named one of the lucky few. Rubin, age 19, was the 2015 NCAA singles finalist and 2014 Boys’ National Champion. He is ranked 631 in the world. Last year he was ranked 534.
At today’s match, Rubin opposed Guido Pella, the number 3 seed from Argentina. Pella, age 25, is ranked 91 in the world and as a left-hander was very comfortable on the court.
As the hometown boy, Rubin, a right handed player, had his cheering section in the stands shouting and chanting in this nail bitter of a match. Fans were flanked on all sides of the court to get a glimpse of this brutal battle. The first set was close at 6-4 to the Argentine’s favor.
In the second set, the two players fought tooth and nail to tie the score at 6-6. The crowd wanted to see more of the exciting hard hitting, fast paced play of two young players.
In the tie break, Rubin started out up at 3-0 and quickly climbed to 5-2 when Pella woke up and quickly tied the score to 5-5. The comeback went the distance and Pella closed the match winning 6-4, 7-6.
Though the Rockville Centre native was unable to advance to a third set, his play was admirable and competitive.
