Chanda Rubin

Chanda Rubin (born February 18, 1976) is an American former top-10 professional tennis player. During her career, she reached the semifinals at the 1996 Australian Open, the quarterfinals of the French Open three times, and had wins over world No. 1s Serena Williams and Martina Hingis. In doubles, she won the 1996 Australian Open with Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and alongside Sandrine Testud, were runners-up at the 1999 US Open.

Early life and family Rubin was born to Edward D. Rubin, a state judge in Louisiana, and Bernadette Fontenot Rubin. She was the middle child of three siblings. As a child, she was taught the sport of tennis by Nehemiah Atkinson.

She married Mireyou Hollier in April 2015, and their daughter was born in October 2016.

In early 2016, her younger brother, Edward Rubin Jr., died aged 38 at his home in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Tennis career In 1992, Rubin won the girls' singles title at Wimbledon, and reached a peak ranking of world No. 2 in the ITF Junior rankings.

Rubin's breakthrough season on the professional tour was 1995. In the third round of the French Open, she made a comeback from 0–5, 0–40 down in the third set against 5th seed Jana Novotná, saving nine match points before eventually winning 8–6. She went on to reach her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal, losing to world No. 1 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, the tournament's defending champion and eventual runner-up. In the second round of Wimbledon, Rubin defeated Patricia Hy-Boulais 7–6, 6–7, 17–15, the longest women's match in Wimbledon history. At the LA Tennis Championships in August, she defeated world No. 8 Gabriela Sabatini and world No. 2 Sánchez Vicario, on her way to the final, where she lost to world No. 3 Conchita Martínez in three sets.

In 1996, Rubin reached the Australian Open semifinals, defeating Sabatini in the fourth round and Sánchez Vicario 6–4, 2–6, 16–14 in the quarterfinals. The 48 games played in their quarterfinal were the most for a women's match at the Australian Open, a record which would be tied by Lauren Davis and Simona Halep in 2018. Rubin lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Monica Seles 6–7, 6–1, 7–5, despite holding a 5–2 lead in the third set. A few days later, she and Sánchez Vicario won the doubles title, defeating third-seeded Lindsay Davenport and Mary Joe Fernández in the final.

Rubin rose to a career-high singles ranking of No. 6 after reaching the final of the 1996 Miami Open where she lost to world No. 1 Steffi Graf. During the tournament, Rubin fractured a bone in her right hand. She eventually underwent surgery in August and missed the majority of the rest of the season.

Rubin is known to have played at the very first official match of the Arthur Ashe Stadium, at the 1997 US Open, in which she faced Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand and lost in two sets.

Representing the United States, Rubin won the 1997 Hopman Cup alongside Justin Gimelstob. She remained undefeated through three ties and the final in her singles matches. At the Linz Open, Rubin defeated world No. 4 Jana Novotná on the way to her first singles title.

In Indian Wells in 1999, Rubin defeated both Amanda Coetzer and world No. 1, Martina Hingis, in straight sets on her way to the semifinals. She also won her second career title at the Hobart International.

Rubin underwent arthroscopic surgery on her left knee in 2001 after the Australian Open, and then suffered a left Achilles tendon injury in April, thereby missing the majority of the season.

Post-retirement In 2013, Rubin completed a four-year Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies with a concentration in Economics at Harvard Extension School, graduating cum laude.

In recent years, she has developed a career in broadcasting, working for Tennis Channel as a presenter and commentator.

Awards 1995: ATA Athlete of the Year 1995: TENNIS Magazine Most Improved Player of the Year 1995: US Tennis Association Female Athlete of the Year 1995: WTA Most Improved Player of the Year 1997: Arthur Ashe Leadership Award 2002: Family Circle Player Who Makes a Difference Award 2003: USTA Service Bowl Award 2008: International Lawn Tennis Danzig Trophy

Grand Slam tournament finals Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

WTA Tour finals Singles: 19 (7 titles, 12 runner-ups)

Doubles: 17 (10 titles, 7 runner-ups) Legend Grand Slam (1–1) Tier I (1–1) Tier II (5–3) Tier III (1–2) Tier IV (2–0)

Singles performance timeline

Wins over top 10 players Season 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Total Wins 5 4 2 0 2 1 0 4 422