Eighth-grader eyes the pros

At age 14, Noah Rubin can honestly say that he has one-upped Roger Federer's record at that age. Noah, who will be a freshman at Kennedy High School in Bellmore in the fall, just finished a stint on the national tennis circuit. He was one of three boys to represent the U.S. in the qualifying round of the World Junior Tennis Competition in Boca Raton, Fla.

The team, which comprised Noah, who's from Merrick, Jordan Belga of Elk Grove Village, Fla., and Daniel Kerznerman of Brooklyn, won all nine of their matches over Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas, and will head to the Czech Republic in August for the 16-nation World Final.

But Noah's most recent victory in Boca Raton is just one on a long list of accomplishments. He started competing in U.S. Tennis Association tournaments when he was 7, and has traveled around the world. In January, tennis took Noah to France, where he competed in Les Petits As, the most prestigious under-14 boys' tournament in the world. Noah, who was 13 at the time, advanced to the finals, where he fell to a French player. When Federer competed at Les Petits As, he was eliminated in the round of 16. Even though Noah lost, the experience helped him build confidence in his game.

"It was so much fun, just thinking back to it," he said with a grin.

Yet the success in France wasn't his first in the international game. In 2008, Noah competed in Le Coup Blanc in Canada, a similar tournament for under-12 boys, and won the championship in both singles and doubles. "Canada really started me off," he said.

Having achieved so much already, Noah attributes a large part of his success to a strong mental game that sets him apart. "I overcome things like crowds, or just to keep calm," he said of high-pressure situations.

But that doesn't mean he isn't continually trying to improve every facet of his game. Noah, who trains at Sportime in Bethpage with coach Lawrence Kleger and conditioning coach Goran Milanovic, has a rigorous training schedule. He leaves school and goes directly to three hours of training during the week, and he trains for five hours on Saturdays. Sundays are off days, unless he has a tournament. But of the three boys on the U.S. World Junior Tennis team, he's the only one who is still enrolled in school full time, which his mother, Melanie, thinks is important.

Melanie has invested a great deal of time in Noah's tennis career, even working at Sportime. Noah's older sister, Jessie, a freshman at Binghamton University, plays on the tennis team there. Even though the siblings are five years apart, tennis has always connected them. "They're really close," Melanie said of her children, "and I think tennis had a lot to do with that."

The support of his family and coaches has been a huge part of his success, Noah said. He plans to continue to push himself and work toward going pro. And he thinks he is headed in the right direction. "I'll be sticking to what I'm doing so I can get there," he said -- there being the U.S. Open.

Comments about this story? DKrasula@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 234.