When Noah Rubin’s new classmates at Wake Forest ask him what he did this summer, he’ll have quite a list to rattle off. The Wimbledon juniors champion and John McEnroe Tennis Academy student completed a sweep of the singles and doubles championships at the USTA Boys 18’s National Championships this weekend, defeating defending champion Collin Altamirano in three straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in singles action in the final today.
He teamed with Stefan Kozlov as the No. 2 seeded duo to win yesterday’s doubles championship, 6-2, 6-2 over Altamirano and Deiton Baughman.
Rubin, the No. 3 seed, won seven matches in the 128-player draw, dropping just two sets along the way.
The two victories earn Rubin the automatic wild card entries into the main draw of the US Open singles and doubles championships later this month in Flushing. Play begins in men’s singles on Monday, August 25.
He also became the first to win the Wimbledon juniors and USTA Boys 18s titles in the same year since Van Winitsky in 1977.
“Noah has had a tremendous summer, and by following up the Wimbledon title with his wins at Kalamazoo he has shown exceptional resolve and determination,” said Hall of Famer JohnMcEnroe, “Everyone at the Academy is excited to welcome him home and also, to see him play against Novak Djokovic on August 21 at the Johnny Mac Tennis Project benefit match at SPORTIME Randall’s Island and then to see what he can do in the US Open the following week. Let’s just hope he doesn’t have to play Novak again in the first round.”
“Noah played very well today in his first best of five match. He got broken serving for each of the first two sets at 5-2 but held at love serving for them again at 5-4,” said JMTA and SPORTIME Director of Tennis Lawrence Kleger. “Other than those two hiccups he played a near flawless match. Winning singles and doubles here is quite a feat so I am extremely proud of his accomplishment. I’m thinking he is going to be a tough out in men’s draw at the Open!”
In addition to McEnroe, Rubin and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, the JMTP benefit will also feature Wimbledon Semifinalist Lucie Safarova, National College Player of the Year and JMTP product Jamie Loeb, N.Y. Rangers superstar goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and actor Edward Norton for a gala evening of tennis and fun.
Claude Okin, CEO of Sportime clubs, explained, “Sportime’s commitment to and investment in Noah Rubin began more than a decade ago, and grew over time with Noah, as our commitment, partnered with Johnny Mac, to develop future generations of college players and pros right here in New York has taken hold. Noah’s story shows that tennis is local, and that those of us who love the game must invest in future generations of players locally, where great players are made. If only the USTA has the resources to try to develop great American players, there will never be another generation of them, and Noah Rubin proves that. Sportime, the John McEnroe Tennis Academy and our charitable arm are 100% committed to finding and supporting more Noah Rubins in the years to come. But mostly, we are just thrilled for Noah, who is a wonderful and humble young man and who has blown the tennis world away this summer.”