Noah Rubin’s “Behind The Racquet” • With • Fabrice Santoro | 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.

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#LegendaryBTR– “Traveling was really the reason I had to stop. Even with the incredible fun I had on court when I was like 40 in the world I felt a need to change into a different field. On one side I feel lucky to be able to travel around the world and see different cultures, and on the other side it was just tiring. From New York to Tokyo and then Moscow, in one month, it’s three different worlds that you have to get used to. There’s a real chance that we never have a normal life. After 21 years on the tour, I couldn’t imagine seeing a suitcase in my living room any longer. I just wanted to be home. I’m not sure the crowd is always able to see the difference between a good and great match, but they can see the difference between someone having fun and someone not happy to be there. People come and watch my matches many times because they want a show. They came to forget their work for a few hours, to forget their problems. If they look at us and get a feeling that we are not happy to be there, then that is just us adding our own issues to theirs. All these players hit the ball well today, but not all of them play the right way. I’m trying to teach them that you can be efficient and happy on the court, which will lead to your best tennis. What I try to explain is how important it is for them to leave the tennis bubble as often as possible. They need to work really hard, and to live their passion, but it’s even more important to have a vision of what’s going on in the outside world. If you only stay in the bubble, you’re out of reality and you lose meaning in yourself. I just want to make sure players understand that every time we play a match, kids in the crowd are watching and learning. They see the energy, or what you bring to the game, and if you have fun on the court, they see it. If you’re not happy to be there, they will see. We have to be careful with the message we send to every kid while we’re on the court, no matter how we are feeling on court. You only have a certain amount of time on court, 5, 10, or 20 years. We are just here for a number of years, and it’s very important to inspire the next generation.” @fabricesantoro

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You can follow Fabrice Santoro on the links below:

Facebook | Fabrice Santoro

Twitter | @fabsantoro72

Instagram | @fabricesantoro

You can check out more Behind The Racquet stories on the link below:

Facebook | Behind The Racquet

Twitter | @BehindTRacquet

Instagram | @behindtheracquet