He entered the Central in a white t-shirt and black pants, microphone in hand and bare feet caressed by the earth of his exploit. "This court is velvet," he smiles. Forty years after his coronation - the last of a Frenchman in Grand Slam - Yannick Noah, 63, is back at Roland-Garros, where many tributes will be paid to him during the fortnight, including the inauguration of a fresco this Sunday.
Saturday, in the early afternoon, nearly 10,000 people gathered in the stands to see the Franco-Cameroonian play... music. A concert of a big hour, perched on a podium in front of the presidential stand, right in the axis of the match ball won against Wilander on June 5, 1983.
With a complete tour of the stands to shake hands and give hugs to fans of all ages who came to participate in this festive moment tinged with severe nostalgia.
✨ Noah 1983
Dans la racquette des 7 opponents by Yannick Noah in 1983 🏆 ✨
#RolandGarros
The movie "All the others are called Noah" is available on our YouTube channel in 3 episodes ▶️ https://t.co/1MFxtWCbHI pic.twitter.com/MWKk3DwYOH
— FFT (@FFTennis) May 27, 2023
"Apart from the birth of my children (all five of whom came to listen to the father), June 5 is the best day of my life," he says. Every time I see the images, it gives me a very strong emotion. I'm sure that when I break the pipe, we'll show it at the opening of the news. This day meant almost everyone of my generation in France and that moves me. »
A little anxious before the show and despite some sound problems, Noah quickly put the Central in the pocket with his most famous titles. Before welcoming on stage a surprise guest. A certain Mats Wilander, wearing his electric guitar, came to interpret with him the Dylanian "Knocking on heaven's door".
"She was beautiful, this victory... »
"The lights of tennis have been extinguished for thirty years and there remains friendship, slips the former No. 3 to the ATP. Mats, he's my friend. We are also linked by music. He had his band before me. Our joke is that people remember that he lost to me when he won three times (1982, 1985 and 1988 for seven Grand Slams)! He is the coolest and most humble guy, the only one who has replayed a match ball in his favor (in the final against Clerc in 1982). I would have piqued the point! »
After scratching a few minutes on the planned protocol, Noah slipped away on the phone and a New York with you very appropriately. Jean-Louis Aubert, Louis Bertignac and others had indeed participated in the memorable party in his house in Nainville-les-Roches (Essonne) after the triumph. And a few months later, in the midst of the depression, Noah had chosen the Big Apple as his exile to escape the pressure of the hexagon.
New supergroup? 🎸🎤
Mats 🎶 Mansour 🎶 Yannick#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/UjLRxU2TyF
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 27, 2023
Today, he lives mostly near Yaoundé, connected to his paternal roots. "It's been a few months since Gilles (Moretton, president of the FFT) and Amé (Mauresmo, tournament director) talked to me about what they wanted for me. I was in Cameroon, in another life and it was when I landed that I realized what was happening. It was nice to see a movie about my victory with seven guys talking 40 years later about a game they lost. It must have been painful for Lendl... »
The singer had been saddened to see the short Simonne-Mathieu bear a different surname than his own. We feel proud to leave him somewhere on the site. "If there had been ten French victories since then in the men's category, we might not celebrate it like this," he says in the wink. Or maybe it is. Because it was beautiful, this victory... »
