Noah Rubin’s “Behind The Racquet” • With • Jolene Watanabe | 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.

 

#MyBTR – “At first glance I look like a normal healthy human being. I am tan, in great shape, and great hair aside from a few grays. I exercise pretty much everyday. I work full time on the tennis court training with and coaching some incredible kids, which I have been doing for years. I am even lucky enough to travel to many tournaments and see them compete to their fullest. Honestly, this is the career of my dreams. While the journey with them is filled with all kinds of enjoyment, nothing compares to seeing a kid win a gold ball or just have a huge win. The look on their face says it all. This is even better than my career where I competed on the pro tour. I played 11 years to be exact with 21 ITF pro titles, 17 gold balls, and 20 main draw grand slam appearances. All of that still doesn’t compare to coaching and mentoring kids towards achieving great things. Despite all of this, looks can be deceiving. I am not what a medical profession would define as a normal healthy human. On October 21, 2017 I was diagnosed with cancer of the appendix. I have been doing chemo for over a year now. At first, it was 12 rounds of infusion with a chemo pump. At the moment I am doing the pill form of chemo. Everyday I take a bunch of pills and do this for three weeks in a row and then take off seven days. So far I have done over 100 days of this pill form of chemo. Fortunately, my body has tolerated each day and I am able to work with just some small side effects. The funny thing is, I wouldn’t change any of it because this is my life, a life that I love. I never ask why or feel sorry for myself. I am strong enough to deal with this and make the best of what life has given me. When I wake up in the morning, I don’t dread swallowing tons of pills. My worst fear is to have someone feel sorry for me or treat me differently than before my diagnosis… so if you see me, give me s**t as usual!” – Jolene Watanabe

 

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