Noah Rubin Falls to Ryan Shane in National Championship Match

The 2014 Junior Wimbeldon Champion came ever so close in his bid  to become NCAA Champion, but he could not prevail. Noah Rubin of Wake Forest University lost to Ryan Shane of the University of Virginia 6-3, 6-7 (4-7) 1-6 in the 2015 NCAA Singles Championship. Rubin previously defeated Shane 7-6 (7-5) 6-3  in the ACC Championship Finals. The loss snapped Rubin's incredible 17-match winning streak. Prior to Rubin, no Wake Forest player had advanced past the round of 32.

Rubin held serve to go up 1-0, then nearly allowed Ryan Shane to battle back to from a 40-love deficit to win the point and hold serve, but Rubin won a lengthy back-and-forth battle to break serve and go up 2-0. Rubin then cruised during the third set to take a 3-0 lead. Rubin then broke Ryan Shane again, and took a 4-0 lead. Rubin and Shane ended up in a deuce situation, but Rubin held serve and took a 5-0 lead. Shane finally held serve and cut the first set lead to 5-1. He followed that up with a break of his own to make it 5-2. Shane then held serve again to make it 5-3. Rubin then regrouped and won the set 6-3.

Shane opened the set by holding serve and taking a 1-0 lead. Rubin also held serve and made it 1-1. Shane continued to the trend and made it 2-1. Noah then held his own serve and broke Shane's serve to take a 3-2 lead. Rubin followed it up by holding serve without surrendering a point to take a 4-2 lead. Shane responded by holding serve making it 4-3, but Rubin and Shane each held serve to make it 5-4 Rubin. Rubin was serving for the match and the national championship, but Shane broke him to make it 5-5. Shane and Rubin each held serve to send it to a tiebreaker. Shane was excellent in the tiebreaker and won the second set. To that point, it was only the second set in the entire tournament that Rubin dropped. Failing to hold serve ultimately proved costly.

Rubin fell down 4-1 in the pivotal third set to Shane, who had some exceptional forehand shots. Once the match moved indoors, Shane did an unbelievable job of dictating the match and being a physical force. Rubin was consistently on the defensive, and the credit goes to Shane. Shane continued his dominant stretch and won the set 6-1, and ultimately the national championship.

Rubin had an unbelievably successful freshman campaign at Wake Forest University. He was named ACC Player and Freshman of the Year, led the Deacs the ACC Finals, and the Sweet 16. Regardless of how long Rubin stays at Wake Forest, he is a program-changer recruit. The top recruit in the country made Wake Forest fans care about tennis, and elevated the program to another level. Congratulations to Noah on all he accomplished this season.