Noah Rubin’s “Behind The Racquet” • With • Gaby Dabrowski | Tennis 10sBalls

 

Editor’s note: 10sBalls thanks Noah Rubin for giving us permission to repost these great stories. We wish him and this endeavor the best of luck. Great seeing Noah wearing K-Swiss and playing Solinco Strings.

 

“Between 2006 and 2010, I was Canada’s top junior, winning Nationals U14 & U18, and being the 1st Canadian to win Les Petits As and the 2nd to win the U18 Orange Bowl. My skills, talents and success were largely the product of my first ever coach, my dad, and my training at Saddlebrook in Florida. I wasn’t developed by our Federation, Tennis Canada, nor their National Training Centre. In fact, anytime I did try working with their coaches and fitness trainers, I got injured, missed vital tournaments/matches and became borderline anemic due to their negligence. I also had to tolerate inappropriate comments, and was called a liar when I reported the incidences. Further, in my transition year from being a #5 Junior on the ITF rankings to the professional tour, my Federation promised me a “world class coach” to further develop my game, and then reneged on that promise and wouldn’t support or fund me unless I did everything their way. Their way included sharing a Tennis Canada coach with another girl, and not allowing my dad or Saddlebrook or any other training base to be in the picture at all. I couldn’t accept these terms based on the terrible things that had previously happened when I was with the Federation, so I had no choice but to find my own way. I felt betrayed and abandoned by my country and Tennis Canada. Their unwillingness to let me choose a development path that had worked for me and others in the past affected me deeply, and still does to this day. Especially as I saw one player after another who came right after me get all the things I had asked for; such as being able to train elsewhere, having access to world class coaches, having a female coach, having a traveling hitting partner, or being able to control my schedule. Then I basically went into the professional tour with just my dad at first, and money became tighter and stresses escalated, all alone. Hampered with little support, I struggled to get far on the ITF singles circuit. I didn’t have any real guidance. However, I noticed that I was going deeper in tournaments in doubles…” -Gaby Dabrowski

 

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You can follow Gaby Dabrowski on the links below:

Facebook | Gaby Dabrowski

Twitter | @AlizeLim

Instagram | @alizelim

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Facebook | Behind The Racquet

Twitter | @BehindTRacquet

Instagram | @behindtheracquet