The toast of France

One of the most beautiful things about being a fan of tennis is the international aspect of the sport. The players come from all over the world, from numerous sets of different circumstances, and the history of the sport is littered with numerous stories of the hardships that many players have had to overcome to achieve a level of success in the game. I've often wondered if the global aspect of tennis is what has hurt the popularity of the sport in the States, given that matches take place all over the world, with people FROM all over the world, during wildly varying time zones. Now, if you ARE a fan, I think it's probably a safe assumption that you simply do not care about the time zone issues or, more importantly, the nationalities of the various players. U.S. television ratings, however, always seem to indicate that the sport does better here when American players are involved in the big matches, such as when Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi battled each other for tennis supremacy during the mid-90s. A certain pair of sisters from California (I'm not saying their names until we get to their profiles, damnit) have done more than their fair share for American tennis in recent years, but, being black women, they are at a disadvantage. I say this not to be insulting at all - let's be honest, we know there's a subset of sports watchers out there that do not take women's sports seriously, and the color of their skin also still causes problems (just read the comment section on any article about either one of them for proof).

ANYWAY, I kind of got off on a tangent there, but the reason why I brought up the international aspect of the game is because today's featured player so perfectly embodies the worldwide spirit of the game - the circumstances under which he became a top player reflect the global diversity that tennis provides.

Yannick Noah was born in France on May 18th, 1960, the son of a professional football (as in soccer) player from Cameroon and a native French woman. Noah's father suffered a career-ending injury in 1963 and, as a result, moved back to Cameroon to be with his family. It was in Cameroon that Noah picked up tennis, and where he was eventually discovered by two American players, Charlie Pasarell and none other than...drumroll, please...Arthur Ashe. (Hey, his name seems familiar...) Ashe telephoned Philippe Chatrier, then the president of the French Tennis Federation, about his discovery and eventually at age 11, Noah left Africa to return to France and begin training at their facilities in Nice, France.

Noah turned professional in 1977 and had success from an early age; he won his first top-level singles title in Manilla in 1978, ultimately reaching a career high of #3 in the rankings in 1986 and finishing with a very respectable total of 23 career singles titles. However, the main thing that he is primarily known for, and what will almost certainly forever be his calling card in France, is his stirring victory at the 1983 edition of Roland Garros. He defeated the defending champion, Mats Wilander, in straight sets in the final, and with his victory, became the first French male player to win the title since Marcel Bernard in 1946. To date, he remains the last male French native player to win the title, and he is the only other male of black descent aside from Arthur Ashe to lay claim to any of tennis' four Grand Slams in singles play - no mean feat.

Yannick played before my time - his victory at Roland Garros occurred three years before I was born, and he retired after the 1990 season, three years before I became aware of the sport - and I have to admit that I used to think that he was kind of overrated by the tennis faithful, when you simply glance at his career raw statistics. He's a member of the Tennis Hall of Fame, yet his Roland Garros title was his only Grand Slam victory, and he only has one other Grand Slam semifinal appearance to his name. However, I've since come around on it; despite the fact that there are several players with better Grand Slam resumes that aren't in the Hall of Fame (Yevgeny Kafelnikov immediately springs to mind), Yannick definitely earned his place at the table. For one thing, he had success at a VERY early age on tour - being able to win titles at the age of 18 is no mean feat. The other thing that I don't think I ever really considered until I got older, and probably the biggest reason for his election to the Hall of Fame, is that by all accounts, his Roland Garros victory completely and utterly galvanized the tennis scene in France. In the 1970s, Roland Garros (or the French Open, whatever you want to call it; I usually say RG but I'm not a snob about it) struggled with waning fan interest and the defection of many of the game's top stars to the then-recent World Team Tennis events; Chris Evert, a seven-time winner in singles at Roland Garros, skipped the tournament for three straight years in the mid-70s to play WTT instead. Could you imagine something like that happening in today's tennis climate? Noah's victory changed that; the event was starting to regain its prominence by the time Noah won it, but his victory inspired an entire nation to begin to play tennis. (Among many other players, Amelie Mauresmo, a future women's champ, has been quoted as saying that Noah's victory is what made her want to pick up a tennis racket.)

Unlike the first two people I've profiled so far, Yannick is still with us; he started a music career after his playing days ended, and his recordings are a huge deal in his native France. He has also served as the captain of France's Davis Cup team at various points, shepherding the team to victory in 1991 and 1996. As many of you may also know, he is the father of Joakim Noah, who was a star college basketball player at the University of Florida and is currently still in the NBA, carrying on his father's athletic legacy.

Here's to you, Mr. Noah - one of France's national treasures and a supremely qualified candidate for Black Tennis Month! :)