There’s some good news for local product Noah Rubin. He won a qualifier to gain entrance to the Australian Open and won in the first round.
But now the bad news: He gets to face Roger Federer in the second round.
The Merrick native is in the main draw of the Australian Open, a grand slam he qualified for last year, by beating fellow American Bjorn Fratangelo 6-7 (4), 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
He will have one advantage going into the match, though. Federer doesn’t know a lot about him.
“Today I saw a little bit while I was waiting for my match on the mini screen,” said Federer, who is the 17th seed in this tournament, due to an off the court knee injury that kept him out of the game for the last five months of 2016. “How much do you see? You see a little bit, but you don’t see the ball.
“I know he’s a baseliner. He makes a lot of shots. I guess it’s not a bad thing for me. I know it’s probably more on my racquet rather than playing a big server. Regardless, you know, got to manage any kind of player in this draw to move forward.”
Other than that Federer knows “almost nothing” about Rubin.
Last year, the 20 year-old Rubin qualified in Australia and won his first round as well, upsetting 17th seed Benoit Paire.
He also qualified as a junior to the US Open back in 2014 after winning the US Boys title.
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