Yannick Noah

Yannick Noah

Country (sports)	France
Born	(1960-05-18) 18 May 1960 Sedan, France
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	1977
Retired	1996
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	US$ 3,440,660
Int. Tennis HoF	2005 (member page)
Singles
Career record	476–210 (at ATP Tour, Grand Prix tour, WCT tour, and Grand Slam level, and in the World Group of the Davis Cup)
Career titles	23
Highest ranking	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)
Doubles
Career record	213–109 (at ATP Tour, Grand Prix tour, WCT tour, and Grand Slam level, and in the World Group of the Davis Cup)
Career titles	16
Highest ranking	1 (25 August 1986)

Yannick Noah (born 18 May 1960 in Sedan, Ardennes) is a former professional tennis player from France. He is best remembered for being the last French and first black man to win the French Open in 1983, and as a highly-successful captain of France's Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams. Since his retirement from the game, Noah has remained in the public eye as a very popular music performer and as the co-founder, with his mother, of a charity organization for underprivileged children. Noah is also the father of Joakim Noah of the NBA Chicago Bulls.

Tennis career

Noah turned professional in 1977, and won his first top-level singles title in 1978 in Manila.

Noah became France's most prominent tennis hero in 1983, becoming the first Frenchman in 37 years to win the French Open. He dropped only one set during the two-week long tournament, and defeated the defending-champion Mats Wilander in straight sets in the final, 6–2, 7–5, 7–6. Noah also became only the second black male to win a Grand Slam singles event (after Arthur Ashe). He remains the last Frenchman to have won the French Open men's singles title.

During his career, which spanned almost two decades, Noah captured a total of 23 singles titles and 16 doubles titles. His highest singles ranking was third in the world, in 1986.

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.

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.

Nine years later, in 1991, Noah captained the French team which won the Davis Cup for the first time in 59 years, defeating a heavily-favoured US team 3–1 in the final. This feat was repeated in 1996, when France defeated Sweden 3–2 in the final held in Malmö.

In 1997, Noah captained France's Fed Cup team to its first victory in that competition.

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.

Noah was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005. He remains France's highest ranked player since the introduction of rankings in 1973.

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1–0)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1983	French Open	Clay	Mats Wilander	6–2, 7–5, 7–6(7–3)

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1984	French Open	Clay	Henri Leconte	Pavel Složil Tomáš Šmíd	6–4, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Runner-up	1985	US Open	Hard	Henri Leconte	Ken Flach Robert Seguso	7–6(7–5), 6–7(1–7), 6–7(6–8), 0–6
Runner-up	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 finals (36)

Wins (23)

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

Doubles finals (25)

Wins (16)

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

Music career

Yannick Noah
Noah performing at a concert in 2006
Background information
Born	(1960-05-18) 18 May 1960 Sedan, France
Genres	Pop
Occupation	Singer
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	1991 – present
Website	www.yannicknoah.com

Since retiring from playing tennis, Noah has developed a career as a popular singer, performing throughout Europe. He began his music career in 1991 with the album Black or 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 successful 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 et Robert Goldman. The single "Simon Papa Tara" written by Robert Goldman. The album also contained songs from Bob Marley and the group Téléphone.

In October 2006, the album Charango was a major hit selling more than 1,150,00 copies culminating in a one year tour for promoting the album. French radio played the singles "Donne-moi une vie" and "Aux arbres citoyens" extensively taken from the album.

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 Frontières his 8th album, conatining the single "Angela", a tribute to Angela Davis. It also contained a duet with Asa in "Hello". On 25 September 2010, he was able to fill in Stade de France for an exceptional concert that was attended by close to 80,000 spectators.

Charity

Noah is very 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, specially 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).

Finally he has taken part in singing with Les Enfoirés to help Les Restos du Cœur. He also takes part in telethons and sponsored the "Téléthon 2005".

He also sponsors the Association Terre-des-Hommes in Massongex (Suisse) and donated proceeds of his concert of Grands Gamins, in 2008, to Sol En Si, an AIDS charity.

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

Politics

Cameroon

Yannick Noah is known to have accepted posts offered by the regime of Paul Biya. In 2005, he accepted being a consultant for Cameroon's national football. Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (In French Rassemblement démocratique du peuple camerounais (RDPC)), the ruling party since independence portrays him as a supporter of its rule. He also reportedly donates to Fondation Chantal Biya (wife of president Paul Biya) specially through Unis pour vaincre.

France

Noah has also taken many political positions including a marked animosity with to the Union for a Popular Movement (in French Union pour un mouvement populaire (UMP)), a right-wing party in France. He also made controversial comments against President Sarkozy about the riots in the suburbs. He also actively supported the candidacy of Ségolène Royal taking part in a pro-Royal rally. Yannick Noah in la Fête de l'Humanité sang many politically engaged songs including "Aux Arbres Citoyens".

Doping

In an article dated 19 November 2011 in Le Monde, he created further controversy as an anti-doping activist, by alleging widespread use of doping in Spain to secure success. Many sports associations and even politicians deplored his declarations in absence of any solid proof about Spanish doping.

A Family of Stars

Yannick Noah, born on May 18, 1960 in Sedan, Ardennes is a former professional tennis player. He is famous for his victory at the Roland Garros tournament in 1983, and as a successful captain of France's Davis Cup team. Now Yannick is a popular singer with hits like Saga Africa (1991), Simon Papa Tara (2001), No More Fighting (2005) and recently Angela (2010). Because he doesn't accept poor sick children being separated from their families in hospital he is the co-founder, with his mother, of 'Enfants de la Terre', a charity organization. Yannick Noah's family is very international. His parents: Zacharie Noah, his father, is a former professional Cameroonian football star. He won the French Cup with Sedan in 1961. His mother, Marie-Claire, is a former captain of France's basketball team and teacher. Yannick has five children; two from his first marriage to Cecilia Rodhe (Miss Sweden 1978 and now a sculptor): Joakim (born in 1985) and Yelena (born in 1986). Joakim plays basketball for the Chicago Bulls and for the French team. Yelena is a model, already famous in the world of fashion. They don't live in France but in the U.S. With his second wife, the British model Heather Stewart-Whyte, he has two daughters: Elijah (1996) and Jénayé (1997). Now he is married to French TV producer Isabelle Camus, he has a son named Joalukas (born in 2004). Yannick doesn't live in France but he is the most popular French celebrity certainly because his music and his charity work promote peace, tolerance and solidarity.

Aubriet, Patrick (2011). EASY GOALS A2. Vanves: Foucher. pp. 28. ISBN 978-2-216-11451_1.

He is also the owner of a restaurant in Saint Barthelemy in the French West Indies called Do Brazil.

Problems with the French fiscal authorities

On 15 July 1996, the 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.

Discography

Yannick Noah, Rennes, 22 January 2011

Albums

Year	Album	Charts			Notes	Certification
		FR	BEL/ Wa	SWI
1990	Saga Africa
1991	Black & What				Includes Saga Africa
1993	Urban Tribu
1998	Zaam Zam
2000	Yannick Noah	1	2	26
2002	Yannick Noah	16	40	82
2003	Pokhara	1	2	23
2003	Métisse(s)	2	4	28
2006	Charango	1	1	7	(including single "Aux arbres citoyens")
2010	Frontières	1	1	4

Rereleases

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

Singles

Year	Single	Charts			Certification	Album
		FR	BEL/ Wa	SWI
1991	"Saga Africa (ambiance secousse)"	2				Saga Africa
1991	"Don't Stay (Far Away Baby)"	39
2000	"Simon Papa Tara"	12	32
2001	"La voix des sages (No More Fighting)"	3	16
2002	"Les lionnes"	16
2002	"Jamafrica"	52
2003	"Si tu savais"	22	31	77
2004	"Ose"	13	9	41
2004	"Mon Eldorado (du soleil...)"	19	23	59
2005	"Métis(se)" (with Disiz La Peste)</small	11	22	41		Métiss(e)
2006	"Donne-moi une vie"	8	5	46
2007	"Aux arbres citoyens"	1	2	41		Charango
2007	"Destination ailleurs"	8	19			Charango
2011	"Ça me regarde"	80	34			Frontières

External links

• Yannick Noah at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Official Site
• International Tennis Hall of Fame
• tenniscorner.net profile
• Biography as pop musician, from Radio France Internationale