How Did Yannick Noah Get Into Tennis?

Discover how French tennis player Yannick Noah went from playing soccer to becoming a Grand Slam singles champion and Davis Cup captain.

Early Life

Yannick Noah was born on May 18, 1960, in Sedan, France, to a Cameroonian father and a French mother. Noah’s parents were both athletes. His father, Zacharie Noah, was a professional soccer player, and his mother, Marie-Claire Noah, was a former Olympic high jumper. Yannick Noah has two brothers, Isaac and Igor.

Yannick Noah is born in Sedan, France on May 18, 1960

Yannick Noah is born in Sedan, France on May 18, 1960. He is the third child of Zacharie and Marie-Claire Noah, who had emigrated from Cameroon in the 1950s. When he was two years old his family moved to Bethoncourt where he began playing tennis. At age 11 he joined the local tennis club in Magnle-Cours where his father worked as a carpenter. Here he met Simon Chapuisat, who would become a close friend and future doubles partner. Chapuisat introduced Noah to Aimé Gauzy, a renowned tennis coach who agreed to train Noah.

Noah’s father, Zachary, was a professional soccer player from Cameroon

Yannick Noah’s father, Zachary, was a professional soccer player from Cameroon. His mother, Marie-Claire, was a nurse from Martinique. Noah has two brothers, Yglennis and Ulrich, and two sisters, Joakim and Magdalena. He also has a half sister, Maureen di Tommaso, from his mother’s first marriage.

Noah’s father was African and his mother was of Martinican descent. Noah grew up in Yopougon, a suburb of Abidjan. He played tennis for the first time when he was eight years old. His father took him to see the French Open when he was 11 years old.[1]

Noah began his professional tennis career in 1977. He won his first top-level singles title that year in Manila.

Noah’s mother, Marie-Claire, was a French woman

Noah’s mother, Marie-Claire, was a French woman who held dual citizenship in Cameroon and had family roots in Kinshasa. She met Simon during a student protest in Paris in the 1960s; they married and moved back to Yaoundé, where Yannick was born.

The couple divorced when Noah was aged one and Marie-Claire returned to France with her son. Noah was brought up in Bandol, a small town on the Mediterranean coast where he attended a Catholic boarding school; he played football for his school and trained with the youth section of Toulon at the age of 13. He began playing tennis at age 11 after being awarded a racket by Arthur Ashe after winning a juniors tournament in Dakar, Senegal.

Career

Yannick Noah was born in 1960 in Sedan, France, to a Cameroonian father and a French mother. His father, Zacharie Noah, was a professional footballer and his mother, Marie-Claire Noah, was a secretary. He has two brothers, Joel and Yglestin Noah, and a sister, Deborah Noah. When he was eleven, his parents divorced and he went to live with his mother in New York City. It was there that he began playing tennis.

Noah turns professional in 1977

French tennis player Yannick Noah turns professional in 1977 and soon earns a reputation as an erratic but talented player. Despite some success early on in his career, including a run to the French Open semifinals in 1981, Noah fails to consistently live up to his potential and is largely overshadowed by countrymen such as Henri Leconte and Sebastien Grosjean. He finally breaks through at the 1983 French Open, defeating Mats Wilander in the final to become the first—and to date, only— Frenchman to win the event in nearly 60 years.

Noah wins his first Grand Slam title at the French Open in 1983

In 1983, Noah won his first Grand Slam title at the French Open. He defeated Mats Wilander in the final in straight sets, becoming the first Frenchman to win the tournament since Marcel Bernard in 1946. Noah’s victory was widely seen as a surprise, as he was ranked #20 in the world at the time and had only reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam once before.

Noah becomes the first French player to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon in 1992

Yannick Noah is a former professional tennis player from France. He is best known for winning the men’s singles title at Wimbledon in 1992, which made him the first Frenchman to win that prestigious title since 1900. He is also the only French player to have won all four Grand Slam titles in singles (the other three being the French Open, Australian Open, and U.S. Open). In addition to his Wimbledon victory, Noah also won the French Open in 1983 and reached the final of the Australian Open in 1986. He was ranked as high as No. 3 in the world during his career and helped France win the Davis Cup in 1991. Following his retirement from tennis, Noah has been involved in various business ventures, including as a restaurateur and clothing designer. He has also served as captain of France’s Davis Cup team and worked as a commentator for French television

Later Years

After his French Open victory, Yannick Noah’s career progressed steadily. He reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 1983, and attained a world ranking of third later that year. Compatriot Henri Leconte’s victory at the 1984 French Open confirmed Noah as the top Frenchman in the world rankings.

Noah is inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005

In 2005, Noah was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In his speech, he paid tribute to Arthur Ashe, saying “I’m standing here because Arthur Ashe believed in me.” In 2006, he published his autobiography, Yannick Noah: Les Raisons d’un succès (The Reasons for a Success).

Noah continues to play tennis and is active in philanthropy

In his later years, Noah has continued to play tennis and is active in philanthropy. He established the Yannick Noah Foundation in 2006 to “promote social inclusion through education and sport” and works with various charities including UNICEF, Friends of the Earth, Rainforest Foundation US, and UNESCO. In 2016, he was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the Ivory Coast.