Yannick Noah

Noah won the French Open in 1983, and is currently the captain of both France's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams. During his nearly two-decade career, Noah captured 23 singles titles and 16 doubles titles, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 3 in July 1986 and attaining the world No. 1 doubles ranking the following month. Since his retirement from the game, Noah has remained in the public eye as a popular music performer and as the co-founder, with his mother, of a charity organization for underprivileged children. Noah is also the father of former NBA player Joakim Noah.

Yannick Noah

Yannick Noah (1979 Davis Cup)
Country (sports)	France
Born	(1960-05-18) 18 May 1960 (age 63) Sedan, Ardennes, France
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	1977
Retired	1996
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money	$ 3,440,660
Int. Tennis HoF	2005 (member page)
Singles
Career record	478–209 (69.6%)
Career titles	23
Highest ranking	No. 3 (7 July 1986)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	SF (1990)
French Open	W (1983)
Wimbledon	3R (1979, 1985)
US Open	QF (1983, 1985, 1989)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	QF (1982)
WCT Finals	SF (1988)
Doubles
Career record	213–109
Career titles	16
Highest ranking	No. 1 (25 August 1986)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open	W (1984)
US Open	F (1985)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	F (1982)

Born in Sedan, in the north of France in 1960, Yannick Noah is biracial. His late father was Cameroonian footballer, Zacharie Noah, and his mother, Marie-Claire, is French. After a sports injury in 1963, Noah's father returned to Africa with his family. He was living in Cameroon when he made his debut in tennis and was discovered at age 11 by Arthur Ashe and Charlie Pasarell. He soon showed an amazing talent that eventually brought him to the French Tennis Federation's training center in Nice in 1971.

Noah turned professional in 1977 and won his first top-level singles title in 1978 in Manila. He became France's most prominent tennis hero in 1983, becoming the first Frenchman in 37 years to win the French Open, one of the four Grand Slam singles events. He dropped only one set during the two-week-long tournament, and defeated the defending champion, Sweden's Mats Wilander, in straight sets in the final, 6–2, 7–5, 7–6. He remains the last and most recent Frenchman to have won the French Open men's singles title.

Noah won the French Open men's doubles title in 1984 (with compatriot and best friend Henri Leconte). He was also the men's doubles runner-up at the 1985 U.S. Open (with Leconte), and the 1987 French Open (with compatriot Guy Forget). In August 1986, Noah attained the world no. 1 doubles ranking, which he would hold for a total of 19 weeks. At the end of 1986, Noah received the ATP Sportsmanship Award, as voted for by other ATP players. He reached the quarter-final stage or better on 10 occasions at Grand Slam level. He notably admitted using marijuana prior to matches in 1981, saying that amphetamines were the real problem in tennis as they were performance-enhancing drugs.

In 1992, Noah received the Legion of Honour medal. Noah was awarded the Philippe Chatrier Award (the ITF's highest accolade) in 2005 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame that same year. He remains France's highest male ranked player since the introduction of rankings in 1973. Noah played on France's Davis Cup team for eleven years, with an overall win–loss record of 39–22 (26–15 in singles, and in 13–7 doubles). In 1982, he was part of the French team which reached the Davis Cup final, where they were defeated 4–1 by the United States.

In 1991, Noah captained the French team to its first Davis Cup victory in 59 years, defeating a heavily favoured US team 3–1 in the final. This feat was repeated in 1996, when Noah coached the French team to defeat Sweden 3–2 in the final held in Malmö. In 2017, Noah added a third Davis Cup win for France under his guidance as captain, defeating Belgium in the final in Lille. In 1997, he also captained France's Fed Cup team to its first ever win of that competition when they defeated the Dutch in the final.

Singles: 1 (1–0)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1983	French Open	Clay	Mats Wilander	6–2, 7–5, 7–6(7–3)

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1984	French Open	Clay	Henri Leconte	Pavel Složil   Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	1985	US Open	Hard	Henri Leconte	Ken Flach   Robert Seguso	7–6(7–5), 6–7(1–7), 6–7(6–8), 0–6
Loss	1987	French Open	Clay	Guy Forget	Anders Järryd   Robert Seguso	7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–2), 3–6, 4–6, 2–6

Singles (23 titles, 13 runners-up)

Result	No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	1978	Nice, France	Clay	José Higueras	3–6, 4–6, 4–6
Win	1.	1978	Manila, Philippines	Clay	Peter Feigl	7–6, 6–0
Win	2.	1978	Calcutta, India	Clay	Pascal Portes	6–3, 6–2
Win	3.	1979	Nancy, France	Hard (i)	Jean-Louis Haillet	6–2, 5–7, 6–1, 7–5
Win	4.	1979	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Manuel Orantes	6–3, 6–7, 6–3, 6–2
Win	5.	1979	Bordeaux, France	Clay	Harold Solomon	6–0, 6–7, 6–1, 1–6, 6–4
Loss	2.	1980	Rome, Italy	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	0–6, 4–6, 4–6
Win	6.	1981	Richmond WCT, U.S.	Carpet	Ivan Lendl	6–1, 3–1 ret.
Win	7.	1981	Nice, France	Clay	Mario Martinez	6–4, 6–2
Loss	3.	1981	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Wojciech Fibak	1–6, 6–7
Win	8.	1982	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Ivan Lendl	6–3, 2–6, 7–5
Loss	4.	1982	Nice, France	Clay	Balázs Taróczy	2–6, 6–3, 11–13
Win	9.	1982	South Orange, U.S.	Clay	Raúl Ramírez	6–3, 7–6(7–2)
Win	10.	1982	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Mats Wilander	6–4, 6–2, 6–3
Win	11.	1982	Toulouse, France	Hard (i)	Tomáš Šmíd	6–3, 6–2
Loss	5.	1983	Lisbon, Portugal	Clay	Mats Wilander	6–2, 6–7(2–7), 4–6
Win	12.	1983	Madrid, Spain	Clay	Henrik Sundström	3–6, 6–0, 6–2, 6–4
Win	13.	1983	Hamburg, West Germany	Clay	José Higueras	3–6, 7–5, 6–2, 6–0
Win	14.	1983	French Open, Paris	Clay	Mats Wilander	6–2, 7–5, 7–6(7–3)
Loss	6.	1984	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Jimmy Connors	2–6, 7–6(9–7), 3–6
Loss	7.	1985	Memphis, U.S.	Carpet	Stefan Edberg	1–6, 0–6
Win	15.	1985	Rome, Italy	Clay	Miloslav Mečíř	6–3, 3–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–4)
Win	16.	1985	Washington, D.C., U.S.	Clay	Martín Jaite	6–4, 6–3
Win	17.	1985	Toulouse, France	Hard (i)	Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 6–4
Loss	8.	1985	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Stefan Edberg	7–6(9–7), 4–6, 6–7(5–7), 1–6
Loss	9.	1986	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Joakim Nyström	1–6, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	10.	1986	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Joakim Nyström	3–6, 2–6
Win	18.	1986	Forest Hills, U.S.	Clay	Guillermo Vilas	7–6(7–3), 6–0
Loss	11.	1986	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Stefan Edberg	6–7(5–7), 2–6, 7–6(9–7), 6–7(5–7)
Win	19.	1986	Wembley, England	Carpet	Jonas Svensson	6–2, 6–3, 6–7(12–14), 4–6, 7–5
Win	20.	1987	Lyon, France	Carpet	Joakim Nyström	6–4, 7–5
Loss	12.	1987	Forest Hills, U.S.	Clay	Andrés Gómez	4–6, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(1–7)
Win	21.	1987	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Ronald Agénor	7–6(8–6), 6–4, 6–4
Win	22.	1988	Milan, Italy	Carpet	Jimmy Connors	4–4, ret.
Loss	13.	1989	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Miloslav Mečíř	6–3, 6–2, 1–6, 2–6, 3–6
Win	23.	1990	Sydney Outdoor, Australia	Hard	Carl-Uwe Steeb	5–7, 6–3, 6–4

Doubles (16 titles, 9 runners-up)

Result	No.	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1.	1978	Calcutta, India	Clay	Gilles Moretton	Sashi Menon   Sherwood Stewart	6–7, 4–6
Win	1.	1981	Nice, France	Clay	Pascal Portes	Chris Lewis   Pavel Složil	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	2.	1981	Paris, France	Hard (i)	Ilie Năstase	Andrew Jarrett   Jonathan Smith	6–4, 6–4
Win	3.	1982	Nice, France	Clay	Henri Leconte	Paul McNamee   Balázs Taróczy	5–7, 6–4, 6–3
Win	4.	1982	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Henri Leconte	Fritz Buehning   Pavel Složil	6–2, 6–2
Loss	2.	1982	Toulouse, France	Hard (i)	Jean-Louis Haillet	Pavel Složil   Tomáš Šmíd	4–6, 4–6
Loss	3.	1983	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Henri Leconte	Heinz Günthardt   Balázs Taróczy	2–6, 4–6
Loss	4.	1984	Philadelphia, U.S.	Carpet	Henri Leconte	Peter Fleming   John McEnroe	2–6, 3–6
Win	5.	1984	French Open, Paris	Clay	Henri Leconte	Pavel Složil   Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Win	6.	1985	Chicago, U.S.	Carpet	Johan Kriek	Ken Flach   Robert Seguso	3–6, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1, 6–4
Loss	5.	1985	U.S. Open, New York	Hard	Henri Leconte	Ken Flach   Robert Seguso	7–6, 6–7, 6–7, 0–6
Loss	6.	1986	La Quinta, U.S.	Hard	Sherwood Stewart	Guy Forget   Peter Fleming	4–6, 3–6
Win	7.	1986	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Guy Forget	Joakim Nyström   Mats Wilander	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Win	8.	1986	Rome, Italy	Clay	Guy Forget	Mark Edmondson   Sherwood Stewart	7–6, 6–2
Win	9.	1986	Basel, Switzerland	Hard (i)	Guy Forget	Jan Gunnarsson   Tomáš Šmíd	7–6, 6–4
Loss	7.	1986	Masters Doubles, London	Carpet	Guy Forget	Stefan Edberg   Anders Järryd	3–6, 6–7, 3–6
Win	10.	1987	Lyon, France	Carpet	Guy Forget	Kelly Jones   David Pate	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win	11.	1987	Indian Wells, U.S.	Hard	Guy Forget	Boris Becker   Eric Jelen	6–4, 7–6
Win	12.	1987	Forest Hills, U.S.	Clay	Guy Forget	Gary Donnelly   Peter Fleming	4–6, 6–4, 6–1
Win	13.	1987	Rome, Italy	Clay	Guy Forget	Miloslav Mečíř   Tomáš Šmíd	6–2, 6–7, 6–3
Loss	8.	1987	French Open, Paris	Clay	Guy Forget	Anders Järryd   Robert Seguso	7–6, 7–6, 3–6, 4–6, 2–6
Win	14.	1987	London/Queen's Club, England	Grass	Guy Forget	Rick Leach   Tim Pawsat	6–4, 6–4
Win	15.	1988	Orlando, U.S.	Hard	Guy Forget	Sherwood Stewart   Kim Warwick	6–4, 6–4
Win	16.	1990	Nice, France	Clay	Alberto Mancini	Marcelo Filippini   Horst Skoff	6–4, 7–6
Loss	9.	1990	Bordeaux, France	Clay	Mansour Bahrami	Tomás Carbonell   Libor Pimek	3–6, 7–6, 2–6

Yannick Noah
Noah performing live at a concert in 2015
Background information
Genres	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	1991 – present
Website	www.yannicknoah.com

After retiring from playing tennis, Noah developed a career as a popular singer, performing throughout Europe. He began his music career in 1991 with the album Black & What, featuring the popular track "Saga Africa", which he made the stadium sing with his players after the famous Davis Cup final win. In 1993, he released the album Urban Tribu with the single "Get on Back", followed by the album Zam Zam in 1998.

With the encouragement of his manager Jean-Pierre Weiller, his musical career got a great boost in 2000 with his self-titled 4th album Yannick Noah, written by Erick Benzi and Robert Goldman. The single "Simon Papa Tara" was written by Robert Goldman. The album also contained songs by Bob Marley and the group Téléphone. In 2005, Noah performed at Bob Geldof's Live 8 concert, a fundraiser aimed at alleviating poverty in Africa. On 21 July 2009, Noah made his U.S. live debut, headlining a concert in front of a packed house at the popular free outdoor performing arts festival in New York City, Central Park SummerStage. The performance was part of France's global music celebration Fête de la Musique. In 2010, Yannick made a comeback with the release of Frontières, his eighth album, containing the single "Angela", a tribute to Angela Davis. It also contained a duet with Aṣa in "Hello". On 25 September 2010, he filled the Stade de France for an exceptional concert that was attended by close to 80,000 spectators.

Noah is active in charity work. He supports Enfants de la Terre, a charity created and run by his mother, Marie-Claire, in 1988. Noah also founded Fête le Mur in 1996, a tennis charity and adaptation for underprivileged children, especially in the poor areas and the banlieues. It is presided by Noah himself. He is also a spokesman for Appel des Enfants pour l'Environnement that was started by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

He took part in singing with Les Enfoirés to help Les Restos du Cœur. He also took part in telethons and sponsored the Téléthon 2005. He also sponsors the Association Terre-des-Hommes in Massongex (Suisse) and donated proceeds of his 2008 concert of Grands Gamins, to Sol En Si, an AIDS charity.

Noah has taken a particular interest in UN-SDG6, supporting the delivery of clean water through What Water ASBL. He has supported the cause on numerous occasions, including hosting an exhibition at his resort Village Noah in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Partly because of his involvement in a number of charities, Noah topped the list of the most favourite French personalities according to a joint survey of Ifop and Le Journal du Dimanche in 2007.

Noah first attended school in Yaounde (Cameroon), where his parents had settled after meeting and marrying in France. He then left Cameroon to attend a sports-and-study program in France under the sponsorship of the French Tennis Federation. He dropped out of the program at age 17 to move to full time tennis schedule.

Noah's father, Zacharie Noah, was a former professional Cameroonian football star who won the French Cup with Sedan in 1961. His mother, Marie-Claire, is a teacher and a former captain of France's basketball team.

Noah has five children, of whom two are from his first marriage to Cécilia Rodhe (Miss Sweden 1978 and now a sculptor): Joakim (born in 1985) and Yelena (born in 1986). Joakim had a 13-year career in the NBA and represented France in international competitions. Yelena is a model. With his second wife, British model Heather Stewart-Whyte, he has two daughters: Elijah (1996) and Jénayé (1997). Noah was awarded custody of his daughters from his second marriage by British courts. Now married to French TV producer Isabelle Camus, with whom he has a son named Joalukas (born 2004). He owns a restaurant in Saint Barthélemy in the French West Indies called Do Brazil.

On 15 July 1996, the French fiscal authorities demanded payment of 6,807,701 francs in back taxes for 1993–1994. The Paris administrative tribunal court confirmed the decision alleging that Noah kept three non-declared bank accounts in Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United States. Noah disputed the court decision as unconstitutional.

 

Albums

Re-releases

• 2004: Yannick Noah / Live (2 CDs – FR #134)
• 2010: Charango / Pokhara (2 Cds – FR #103)

Singles