Yannick Noah

Born in the North of France in 1960, Yannick Noah is the son of a Cameroonian soccer player, Zacharie Noah, and his French wife Marie-Claire. After a sports injury in 1963, Noah's father returned to Africa with his family. There Yannick made his debut in tennis and soon showed an amazing talent that eventually brought him to the French Tennis Federation's training center in Nice in 1971, after Black-American tennis legend Arthur Ashe discovered him while he was playing a tournament in Africa. Six years later Yannick Noah won his first victory in the Wimbledon junior category and became professional the next year. On March 5, 1983, he created history by beating Swedish Mats Wilander in the final of the French Open, becoming the first French player to do so since 1946. He won the French Open again in 1984 in doubles with Henri Leconte. In 1986, he ranked third in the ATP international classification and took the lead in doubles for 19 weeks (in single, he stayed in the top 10 during 6 c