Nearly 30 years ago Chanda Rubin emerged as a force in the world of women’s tennis at only 15 years old.
Ranked as high as No. 6 in the world in singles in 1996, Rubin later competed at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open and the Australian Open and faced Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, and Martina Hingis.
Jan Swift with the Discover Lafayette podcast interviewed Rubin in 2014 as part of the Upper Lafayette On The Move series. You can listen to their conversation here.
Rubin, the daughter of Judge Ed Rubin and Bernadette Rubin, began playing the sport by hitting a ball against a chain-link fence at the family’s Carencro home. Her parents later built a tennis court behind their home.
At age 7, she was competing in tournaments. By her early teens, she was winning national titles. She turned pro at 15 and was ranked sixth in the world in 1996.
Her career singles record was 399-254 when she retired in 2006, finishing with seven WTA singles titles and 10 doubles crowns.
Rubin is a member of the Louisiana Tennis Hall of Fame and USTA’s Southern Tennis Hall of Fame and is a respected spokesperson for her sport locally and globally. She is now a commentator for The Tennis Channel.