Sports

Merrick tennis phenom grabs first pro title

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Merokean Noah Rubin recently won his first professional tennis tournament –– the Charlottesville Men’s Pro Challenger, played in Charlottesville, Va., from Nov. 2 to 8 –– while also earning the Chase Family Sportsmanship Award.

After being an NCAA finalist while playing for Wake Forest last May, Rubin turned pro in June, when his Association of Tennis Professionals world rank was 1,050. In recent months, it climbed to 537. After his victory in Charlottesville, he jumped 220 spots in the rankings to No. 317.

There are three levels of professional tennis: Futures, Challengers and ATP Tour, the highest level. Rubin is currently playing at the Challenger level. He had previously reached the finals of five Futures tournaments, but had not won one.

Rubin attended Kennedy High School in Bellmore for a year before studying online to receive his high school diploma while training for a tennis career.