Noah Rubin’s “Behind The Racquet” • With • Roberto Bautista Agut | Tennis 10sBalls

By 10sballs Staff
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Updated: April 9, 2020

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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“My mom passed away in 2018. I was at the club I used to train at when I got a call after practice. I found out my mom went to sleep and didn’t wake up. It was 100% unexpected. She was very young, only 52 years old, but was supporting a lot of stress from taking care of my father. Back in 2016 my father was in an accident. My father fell while he was cleaning our horse stables and became paralyzed. It was days before the Rio Olympics, which I almost decided to skip, but ended up going in the end. My father was in the bed in the next room when my mom passed away. It was an incredibly tough four years. From my father’s accident he became a quadriplegic, couldn’t move from the neck down. He used an artificial breathing machine since he couldn’t do it himself. We had two people, plus my mother, who took care of my father 24 hours a day. Then when my mom passed away, my wife and I had a lot of work considering that he needed all day help. We added a few more people to the team to help him.

When I was younger and had easier problems to deal with, I would focus all my energy and sadness on the court. That helped me when I got older and dealt with my parents. It wasn’t easy, there was no time to rest. I would practice and then use my free time to go home and visit my father in the hospital or the house. It was extremely difficult. I knew that during this time I could not stop playing. I had to help my father. In the beginning we didn’t know how much the treatments would cost or all of his operations. I had to keep working. I know that besides the money playing tennis is what my father wanted for me. My parents wanted me to make my dreams come true no matter the situation. I kept playing and fought harder than I ever did. That was my way of making it worth it. During this horrible time is when I played some of my best tennis. I am sure people cannot understand that. I was there for my family as much as I could, but I couldn’t throw away what I have worked all my life for. I wanted to keep working, and harder than ever. I never gave up. It was November of 2019, when my father passed away. It was during the Davis Cup match against Canada. I got to be with him his last few minutes and played a match 24 hours later. It was what my father wanted for me. His passing was a little unexpected but my family knew that it could happen any day or month. Even though I knew this, once your father passes away you face that. You face the loss of another parent and there are no words. These tough moments made me stronger and more powerful. It gave me a strength others didn’t have. Through all the tough times I had at home and didn’t want to travel because I was so tired, it made me who I am. It made me more focused and motivated. I did everything I could to fight hard on the court to show my mother and father that their hard work was worth it.

Soccer has always been a passion of mine. When I was younger I played for Villarreal until I was 14 years old. It was not an easy decision but I am very happy that I am playing tennis. I do miss playing for a team a lot but looking back I am lucky to choose tennis. It was difficult to leave all my friends on the team and to lose a dream of yours. It is not easy to make a life decision like that at 14. I don’t regret it but after a couple years of tennis practice I could never have imagined the sacrifices you needed to make to become a pro tennis player. It’s fun when I get the chance to play soccer with some of the guys now.”

Roberto Bautista Agut (@robertobautistaagut)

Editors note: We applaud Noah Rubin and all of his colleagues. The way they open up and expose their situations with the reader of BEHIND THE RACKET is truly amazing. NoahRubin33 is always ready to give you a tennis tip by sending him your video. Please listen to his great podcasts and go check out his coaching on his sites.