Ex-French Open champ Yannick Noah taking charge of French para tennis
FILE -Former French tennis player and singer Yannick Noah looks on during the inauguration of a fresco retracing his life, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his victory at Roland Garros in 1983, on day one of the Roland-Garros Open tennis tournament in Paris, May 28, 2023. Credit: AP/Anne-Christine Poujoulat
PARIS — Yannick Noah, the 1983 French Open champion, was appointed as the head of France's para tennis on Thursday.
From next year, Noah will be in charge of coordinating wheelchair, visually impaired, deaf and hard-of-hearing tennis activities, the French Tennis Federation said in a statement.
Noah had a first experience with disability tennis over the summer when he led the France men’s wheelchair team at the Paris Paralympic Games.
“His main role will be to continue structuring the para tennis department by steering the training and ‘high level’ strategy and supporting the development of all para tennis activities across the country,” the federation said.
Noah, a celebrity in his home country, is the last man from France to win a Grand Slam singles title. He also captained the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams to championships.
He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.
Noah said he was "delighted" by his appointment to lead a “new mission, which is particularly close to my heart.”
“I had an incredible human experience working alongside the players in the French wheelchair tennis team at the Paralympic Games in Paris and I didn’t want this great story to end there,” he added.
More tennis
