Don't Miss
- Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer Congratulate Novak Djokovic on 10th Australian Open Title
- Post-Australian Open ATP rankings: Djokovic back to No. 1, Paul and Shelton make major moves
- Novak Djokovic Tops Stefanos Tsitsipas for 10th Australian Open Title, 22nd Grand Slam
- Noah Rubin’s “Behind The Racquet” with Marion Bartoli • Tennis | 10sBalls
- Aryna Sabalenka Edges Elena Rybakina in Dramatic Australian Open Final
- Ricky’s preview and pick for the Australian Open final: Djokovic vs. Tsitsipas
- Djokovic, Tsitsipas set up showdown for No. 1 in Australian Open final
- David Nainkin to Serve as Interim Captain for U.S. Davis Cup Team’s Qualifying tie vs. Uzbekistan
- Stefanos Tsitsipas Tops Karen Khachanov For First Australian Open Final
- Australian Open Draws and Schedule for January 28, 2023
- Ricky’s preview and pick for the Australian Open semifinals: Djokovic vs. Paul
- Aryna Sabalenka Sets up Australian Open Final vs. Elena Rybakina
- Australian Open Draws and Schedule for January 27, 2023
- Aryna Sabalenka Stops Donna Vekic to Reach First Australian Open Semifinal
- Australian Open Draws and Schedule for January 26, 2023
Noah Rubin’s “Behind The Racquet” • With • Alize Lim | Tennis 10sBalls
- Updated: June 20, 2019

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.
“I started playing professionally in the summer 2010, after finishing university and turning 20. I didn’t have any family member pushing me or traveling with me, this was my own choice because I loved tennis so much. I finally had more time to train and travel and went up pretty fast to around 280 WTA. I thought ‘great this is going to go fast’. Two years later I was still in the exact same spot. I was traveling alone every week, struggling to improve as I had no one to watch my matches and tell me what to work on. The academy I trained at was charging 1500€ for one week of coach salary on tour, meaning 6k a month, plus expenses. There was no way I would ask my parents to pay that. My boyfriend at the time was top 30 ATP and told me those words I will never forget, ‘Alize, no one can make it alone, and if I’d been alone, I would still be playing National tournaments by now.’ He fought for me and found a sponsor so I could finally travel with the coach he thought was best for me. I was so happy and felt a big difference straightaway, broke the top 200 in just a few weeks, and finished the season around 150 WTA six months later, with only about ten weeks on tour with that coach. I decided to hire him full time when the new season in 2013 started, paying for a monthly salary. I thought this will go even faster now, but everything started going downhill. He had never traveled full time, was missing his family a lot, was clearly miserable on the tour and we had a really bad relationship off the court. I was feeling terrible and my results started getting worse. We split when I reached my highest ranking of 135 and got my first Wild Card for Roland Garros and had to play against Serena Williams on center court alone. It was my first main draw slam and I had no one in my box to look at. The two people I were confiding in at that time were the director of my academy, and my fitness coach, who were also helping Serena. I was literally looking at my opponent’s box during that match. We lost the sponsor, but luckily I started making more money so I could invest some into coaching. The academy found me another coach to try right after and I was super excited about it…” -Alizé Lim
****