LI's Noah Rubin loses qualifying match at New York Open, fails to make main draw
Noah Rubin reacts after a shot against Paolo Lorenzi during their New York Open match at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on Monday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
When Noah Rubin won his first qualifying match at the New York Open on Sunday, it was his first win since last September in a Challenger event in Cary, North Carolina. He did not get a second victory on Monday.
Rubin lost to wily veteran Paolo Lorenzi, 6-3, 6-1, in his second-round qualifying match and will miss out on the main draw at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum. It’s been a tough six months for Rubin, having to deal with a stress injury to his right elbow that kept him out of competition for the last quarter of 2019. He began this season losing a first-round Challenger level match in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a first-round loss in Australian Open qualifying.
“It was good to get my first match win yesterday,” Rubin said. “I hadn’t won a match this year yet. So it’s a few months coming at this point with the injury.”
While Rubin, the 23-year-old from Rockville Centre, bemoaned lack of execution, he also lauded the perseverance of the 38-year-old Lorenzi.
“I think he’s been playing professional tennis longer than I have been alive,” Rubin said. “He’s one of the nicest guys on tour. It’s unbelievable to have that mind-set for that many years. Just being around him, just talking to him, it’s great. He really knows how to play his game really well.”
Lorenzi’s deep groundstrokes, reasonable serve and still-speedy 38-year-old legs were just too much for Rubin. Rubin was broken five times and when he got his only break of Lorenzi’s serve in the third game of the second set he gave it right back in the fourth.
“With him, you have to go for that shot, and you have to have the confidence to go for that shot,” Rubin said. “Me, definitely being more confident than yesterday but not nearly where I am at my peak, it’s tricky.
“Overall, at times, I think I played better than yesterday. I just think that with this extremely slow court, him knowing what to do, it was probably the longest and toughest 3 and 1 match I ever played.”
A lack of match toughness was a major contributor to Rubin’s downfall on Monday. “Having [Sunday’s victory over MacKenzie McDonald] under my belt is great,” he said. “But I was definitely disappointed with some of the shots I came up with today at key points, but this is definitely going in the right direction. Mindset wise if you got me at Ann Arbor [Challenger] I wouldn't have been talking as positively.”
So now what for Rubin?
“I’m hoping to get into Delray [the next tournament]. I’m a few spots out right now, maybe a wild card if I need it,” Rubin said. “I’ve put myself in a tricky situation. I ended last year losing a lot of points. That’s how tennis works. You can’t take a week off. We are always playing hurt, pushing it to the max knowing that taking two or three weeks your ranking goes from 150 to 250.”
