Noah Rubin’s “Behind The Racquet” • With • Thomaz Bellucci | 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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“It’s very tough to be playing small tournaments, ones I didn’t play often when I was younger. It’s a process for me. Two years ago, I had a problem with my supplements and medications and I was forced to stop playing for about five months, and that is when my ranking dropped. This was a really sad time in my life, while I was home, not competing. I was extremely depressed for many reasons. I was worried about my image and the example this was setting for the kids back home. We don’t have many players in Brazil and for them to now see one of their top players suspended is never a good thing. It took some time but I am in a better place now and looking how to push forward. After this, I had no confidence that I could be back in the top 100. On top of this all I dealt with a few injuries that made the situation worse and worse. Regardless of what tournaments I play I still enjoy competing, but I am giving myself a couple more years to try to break back into the top 100 until I stop. From a young age I suffered from all the pressure my parents put on me, from what my father put on me. I think the relationship between the players and their parents are quite often a problem. Many don’t know how to help their children the right way. I suffered because I wanted to become a tennis player so badly but I had to prove to my parents that I had what it took. When I stop playing I want to help parents and players learn how to manage it all and enjoy tennis, not only put the pressure on winning. I think when I was young there were too many times when I didn’t enjoy the sport. I don’t blame my parents because they never played tennis, they didn’t know much.  They had very little knowledge on how how hard it is to win a tournament or even become a professional. When I lost a match, I was not supported or spoken to nicely. They were just really negative. I was constantly crying after losses, knowing they were going to say something bad to me after the match. It was not a good environment for me to improve, I wasn’t relaxed or having fun. Again, I do not blame my parents they just didn’t know and I don’t want others to make the same mistake. I want to be help new players come up by passing on my experiences to them. I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do, since I still want to focus on my career now. I don’t want to lose these feelings and experiences, everything I worked so hard to learn, and not pass them on to the next generation.” Thomaz Bellucci (belluccioficial)

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