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Andre Agassi’s Influencing Fashion Statement From 25 Years Ago

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by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

It’s a daily ritual of mine to pick up a copy of the book I wrote, “On This Day In Tennis History,” (now also a mobile app) and gaze through the happenings from the day in the calendar.

On this morning, June 1, I happened to see that it was the 25-year anniversary of an incident that made major headlines in 1990, but has since drifted away like the sands of time. The event from the book is documented below.

1990 – Following a 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 third-round French Open victory over Arnaud Boetsch, Andre Agassi labels French Tennis Federation and International Tennis Federation President Phillipe Chatrier as a “bozo” after Chatrier and tournament officials issue a statement during Agassi’s match criticizing the attire of certain players – presumably Agassi who sports faded black shorts and “hot lava” pink tights. “There is growing concern about this issue,” Chatrier says in the statement. “If players go too far in their attire, then something will have to be done.” Responds Agassi in his post-match press conference, “Those bozos will look for anyone to talk about. Let them talk. It’s some dull guys sitting behind a desk.” Continues Agassi, “Tennis players are different. It isn’t a team. It’s you. I think you should have freedom to express what you feel. Wearing colors is what tennis needs. It adds a little something. Without colors I’d still be me, but I’d be more boring.”

Agassi’s garish outfits were a controversy in the conservative sport a generation ago, which is quite astonishing considering the various shades of pinks and salmons and neons and “hot lava” that we see on practically every tennis court in pro tennis, outside of the still all-white Wimbledon. Credit Mr. Agassi for this legacy and influence he had during his ground-breaking career.

For more info on “On This Day In Tennis History” go to www.TennisHistoryApp.com

 

Andre Agassi 1990 French Open
Andre Agassi 1990 French Open

 

A look back at Federer-Nadal at Roland Garros

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When Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal tangle in the men’s singles final at Roland Garros, it will mark their fifth career meeting at the French Championships and their fourth final. Federer has, of course, never beaten Nadal on the Roland Garros clay – and in their last final on the Parisian clay back in 2008 – and was hardly competitive.

Rene Stauffer, the author of the definitive biography of Federer called ROGER FEDERER, QUEST FOR PERFECTION ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.RogerFedererBook.com), describes each encounter between the two titans at Roland Garros in these excerpts below.

2005 Semifinals – Nadal def. Federer 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3

Federer may have arrived in Paris with a season’s record of 41-2 but he expressed caution before his seventh French Open. “The first rounds here are always treacherous,” he said in a modest tone that was sometimes missing from previous years. “I’m not thinking about winning this tournament.” He arrived in Paris directly from Portugal and had the privilege of being able to practice every day on the Centre Court at Roland Garros—the Philippe Chatrier Court—where he suffered many of his most devastating losses as a professional. Federer’s excellent pre-event preparation and the tutoring from the now 60-year-old Tony Roche paid off. He won the first five matches of the tournament without dropping a set to reach the semifinals for the first time in his career. “It’s almost going a bit too quickly for me,” he said of his relatively easy jaunt to the semifinals.

Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal

However, waiting for Federer in the semifinals was none other than Nadal—whom he faced for the first time on a clay court. The young Spaniard was full of self-confidence and entered the match with a 22-match win streak. Due to a rain delay, as well the five-set match between Argentinean Mariano Puerta and Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the other men’s semifinal, Federer and Nadal did not take the court until 6:20 pm local time in Paris. Federer struggled from the start and was troubled—particularly off the forehand—by Nadal’s extreme topspin. After losing four of the first five games, Federer surrendered the first set 6-3—his first lost set of the tournament—as he had his serve broken an incredible four times. He managed to win the second set 6-4, but remained unusually nervous and committed nearly twice as many mistakes as Nadal in the third set. Nadal led 4-2, before Federer broke back to square the set. After Nadal held in the ninth game of the third set, he clinched the third set—and a two-sets-to-one lead—with a cross-court running forehand winner. Darkness started to fall in Paris and Federer was irritated. He seemed to be in a rush and requested the match be suspended due to darkness. The chair umpire did not allow it. Federer was flustered and Nadal took control of the match as he broke Federer’s serve in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead and closed out the 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory one game later. “I started the match off badly and ended it badly,” Federer summarized. “I played well in between but all in all, that was not enough.”

Like at the Australian Open when Federer was defeated by Safin in the wee hours of the morning of Safin’s 25th birthday, Federer was again a birthday victim at a Grand Slam event. This Friday—June 3rd—was the 19th birthday of Nadal—and like Safin—he would go on to win the tournament. In an exciting final between two left-handed players, Nadal defeated Puerta, who, as it turned out months later, tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and was suspended from professional tennis.

The more time Federer pondered the loss to Nadal, the more positives he drew from it. He proved to himself and others that he had what it takes to win the French Open, despite what he thought was his worst performance in the later stages of a Grand Slam tournament. He was convinced that this loss to Nadal would be a learning experience. He now believed he could win the French Open and achieve the rare career Grand Slam. Another positive to temper his mood was the fact that the French public took a liking to him and rallied behind him during his matches, most notably against Nadal. “It was fantastic how they supported me,” he said. “It was almost like a victory for me because it’s not easy to win the crowd in Paris.”

2006 Final – Nadal def. Federer 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4)

At Roland Garros, Federer effortlessly reached the semifinals—losing only one set in the process to Nicolas Massu of Chile in the third round. David Nalbandian, Federer’s former nemesis, waited in the semifinals and after only 39 minutes of play, the Argentine surprisingly lead 6-4, 3-0. Nalbandian, however, was troubled by a stomach injury and as the match progressed, it became too much to bear. With the score knotted at one set a piece and Federer leading 5-2 in the third set, Nalbandian was forced to retire from the match.

It seemed as though 2006 was Federer’s year. He was one match away from the “Roger Slam” but once again, Nadal waited in the final. The Spaniard entered the final having won his last 59 matches on clay courts—his first-round win over Sweden’s Robin Soderling broke the all-time clay court streak of 53 matches set by Guillermo Vilas in 1977.

Federer, however, was convinced he could beat him. He and Tony Roche analyzed the left-hander’s game and pondered his tactics. In contrast to right-handed players, Nadal had a completely different range distribution. He covered his left half of the court much better than most players and he was able to more consistently work on Federer’s weaker backhand side with his forehand.

The final was one of the most highly-anticipated matches in memory. Black market prices for the final reached four digit figures in euros. The media outdid itself with previews and headlines—“Prince against the Pirate” ran the headlines of the British Independent on Sunday. Former French heavyweight boxing champion Jean-Claude Bouttier said the final reminded him of one of the greatest fights in boxing history. “A stylist is meeting a puncher at this match,” he said. “Nadal is Marvin Hagler. Federer is Sugar Ray Leonard.”

The match began fantastically for Federer. Carried by a wave of sympathy from the spectators accorded the No. 1-seeded “underdog,” he won the first set 6-1 on the hot afternoon with temperatures hovering near 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The turning point in the match, however, came quickly and brutally. At 0-1 in the second set and after leading 40-0 on his serve, Federer missed an easy volley at the net to lose his serve and go down an early break in the second set. His tremendous momentum was lost. Months later, Federer said that this moment “broke his neck.” While Federer fell apart, Nadal got his second wind and rallied for the 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory. It was Federer’s first loss in a Grand Slam final.

Even months later, Federer could not say exactly what happened during the three-hour final. “I wasn’t nervous,” he said. “To the contrary, I was even astonished at how cool I was. The fact that I wasn’t able to pull it off had to do with Nadal. He was impressive coming back after the first set.” Was there something he would do differently if he could play this final again? “Yes. I would have changed my game after the first set even though I was winning,” he said. “I should have stood farther up, played more aggressively and I needed to try to put more pressure on him.”

2007 Final – Nadal def. Federer 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

At Roland Garros, Federer raised the hopes of his many fans as he reached the final for a second straight year. There Nadal awaited once again. Paris isn’t like Hamburg or Wimbledon. The clay courts in the Bois de Boulogne are a fortress for the Spaniard—and he would not give it up. Federer started the final off strong, but couldn’t convert on any of his 10 break point opportunities and lost the first set 6-3. Federer then evened the match, winning the second set, but Nadal proved to be too strong and began to pull away.

With plenty of confidence, Nadal finished the 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory and grabbed another clay-court title to go with his victories earlier in the year in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome.

“Spin it any way you want—I’m disappointed to have lost. I couldn’t care less how I played the last 10 months or the last 10 years. At the end of the day, I wanted to win that match,” said a somber Federer in the post-match press conference. “I couldn’t do it. It’s a shame. But life goes on…”

2008 Final – Nadal def. Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0

In April, one year after the split with his coach Tony Roche, he expanded his team by hiring the former Spanish clay court specialist Jose Higueras, who worked and lived in the United States and helped guide Michael Chang and Jim Courier to French Open titles. The collaboration lasted only until the end of the year. Except for a smaller ATP clay-court tournament in Estoril, Portugal, where his final-round opponent Nikolay Davydenko retired with an injury, Federer left every tournament he played a loser. He lost to players who he often used to beat: Mardy Fish in Indian Wells, Andy Roddick in Miami and Radek Stepanek in Rome. In cases where he reached the finals, there was always one guy standing in his way: Rafael Nadal. Federer lost to the Spaniard in Monte Carlo, Hamburg and for the third time in a row, in the French Open finals.

The French Open loss was one of the most sensational losses of his career. He lost eight of his eleven service games and was defeated in one hour, 48 minutes by a 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 margin. The loss was the most decisive in a French Open men’s final since 1977. The questions quickly arose whether Federer could recover from this psychological beat-down in time to defend his Wimbledon title.

Tennis Channel’s fifth year of French Open coverage to include 3-d weekend

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Tennis Channel, the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle, will bring the world’s most prestigious clay-court tournament to American televisions in 3-D for the first time during this year’s French Open coverage. Working with AT&T U-verse®, Comcast and DIRECTV the network will telecast all matches from center court – the postcard-perfect Philippe Chatrier Court – in 3-D during Memorial Day weekend, May 28-30. Viewers who subscribe to one of these three pay-TV providers will be able to access the more than 20 hours of match coverage.

Tennis Channel, the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle, will bring the world’s most prestigious clay-court tournament to American televisions in 3-D for the first time during this year’s French Open coverage. Working with AT&T U-verse®, Comcast and DIRECTV the network will telecast all matches from center court – the postcard-perfect Philippe Chatrier Court – in 3-D during Memorial Day weekend, May 28-30. Viewers who subscribe to one of these three pay-TV providers will be able to access the more than 20 hours of match coverage.

Though Grand Slam tennis action has appeared in 3-D on U.S. television networks before, this will be the first time for the French Open, so symbolized by its surface of luxurious red clay, extended rallies and passionate, vocal stadium crowds.

“Tennis Channel prides itself on bringing this sport to our viewers through state-of-the-art broadcast quality that’s second to none,” said Larry Meyers, executive producer and senior vice president, production, Tennis Channel. “In keeping with this, we’re happy to work with AT&T U-verse, Comcast and DIRECTV to be the first network to offer the French Open to U.S. audiences in 3-D. We always say we want viewers to feel like they’re actually in Paris at the French Open when they tune into Tennis Channel, and the images of red clay flying through their televisions at them in 3-D this year will only add to this effort.”

In all Tennis Channel’s fifth year at the French Open will bring more than 75 hours of live or first-run matches to viewers, with another dozen hours of men’s and women’s semifinal same-day encores. The network will carry at least seven live hours a day for the first nine days of the competition, with coverage beginning at 5 a.m. ET (a complete schedule follows, below).

French Open Tonight, hosted by Bill Macatee, will be back each evening for three-and-half hours of highlights, interviews, analysis and special reports from the tournament grounds and Paris at large. Typically running from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ET., the show’s set will again be perched above the French Open’s famed Musketeer Plaza, right in the heart of the crowd. Each night at its conclusion French Open Tonight immediately re-airs twice in its entirety all night and early morning up to the start of the next day’s coverage of live matches. Tennis Channel will produce 42 hours of French Open Tonight this year, with 139 overall hours dedicated to the show during the two-week competition.

Tennis Channel has worked with ESPN2 to bring viewers almost non-stop coverage between the two networks, and will do so again. On most days Tennis Channel’s live matches run from 5 a.m.-noon ET, at which point ESPN2 takes the court until 6:30 p.m. ET, then hands it back over to Tennis Channel’s French Open Tonight. French Open Tonight then runs through the night until the next day’s play. Tennis Channel produces all coverage for both channels, with each cross-promoting the other’s schedule and making use of its own on-air team. All French Open production is in high definition.

On-Air Talent

Since announcing Hall of Famers John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova as lead analysts in 2007, Tennis Channel has continued to add to the star power of its French Open talent roster. New to the team in 2011 is Mary Carillo, one of the most respected sports journalists in the industry, a long-time tennis broadcaster and a 1977 French Open mixed doubles champion with McEnroe. Carillo will host the network’s live tournament desk, conduct interviews, offer perspective and analysis, and handle play-by-play duties during select matches. She will also develop human interest stories and segments during the two-week event. Additionally, Grand Slam winner Lindsay Davenport is back at Roland Garros for the network in 2011, in the first year of her recently signed multiyear, year-round on-air agreement.

Meanwhile, Justin Gimelstob, Corina Morariu, Katrina Adams and Barry MacKay will offer analysis again for the network in Paris this year, along with returning play-by-play men Ted Robinson, Ian Eagle and Leif Shiras. On any given night any one of Tennis Channel’s live-match broadcasters could make an in-person appearance on French Open Tonight with Macatee, and likely each one of them will at some point during the two-week event. In addition to Macatee, the primetime show will feature the talents of Bud Collins, the reporter, broadcaster, writer and expert who has literally written the book on the sport with his Tennis Encyclopedia. They will be joined by Cari Champion, anchor and reporter for Tennis Channel’s year-round Court Report news segment. She will resume the role she held last year, covering the tournament’s grounds and its famous host city, and bringing the off-court bustle and pageantry to viewers back home.

Broadband Coverage

Tennis Channel has streamed live and on-demand matches for free on its Web site, www.tennischannel.com, since it began covering the French Open. This will continue in 2011, with another 10 days of 125 matches and 200 hours of online tennis. However, an upgraded video player will bring it all to viewers at much faster speeds and in high-definition quality. Other new features include picture-in-picture tools, digital video recorder (DVR) capabilities and the option of watching multiple courts simultaneously. In fact, given Tennis Channel’s extensive video-on-demand archives, the Web site’s new video player will allow a site visitor to have up to 20 screens of different matches playing at the same time.

Tennis Channel’s redesigned online video page will again offer daily French Open highlights, player interviews, on-the-ground features and French Open Tonight segments. Other www.tennischannel.com features include real-time scoring, exclusive photos, interactive tournament draws, sweepstakes information and the “Racquet Bracket” tournament prediction game. In addition, veteran tennis reporter Matt Cronin will write for Tennis Channel for the first time during the French Open this year, penning a few columns each week as he begins a year-round presence on the network Web site. He joins returning scribes Steve Flink, Joel Drucker and James LaRosa.

Tennis Channel’s Live 2011 French Open Match Schedule – Entirely in High Definition

(Men’s/Women’s Singles Unless Otherwise Specified)

Date Time (ET) Event

Sunday, May 22 5 a.m.-1 p.m. First-Round Action

Monday, May 23 5 a.m.-3 p.m. First-Round Action

Tuesday, May 24 5 a.m.-Noon First-Round Action

Wednesday, May 25 5 a.m.-Noon Second-Round Action

Thursday, May 26 5 a.m.-Noon Second-Round Action

Friday, May 27 5 a.m.-Noon Third-Round Action

Saturday, May 28 5 a.m.-Noon Third-Round Action

Sunday, May 29 5 a.m.-Noon Round-of-16 Action

Monday, May 30 5 a.m.-Noon Round-of-16 Action

Tuesday, May 31 8 a.m.-Noon Quarterfinals

Wednesday, June 1 8 a.m.-Noon Quarterfinals

Thursday, June 2 5 a.m.-8 a.m. Men’s Doubles Semifinals

Tennis Channel will also offer same-day replays of the singles semifinals (ET):

Thursday, June 2 – 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m.: women’s singles semifinals

Friday, June 3 – 5 p.m.-midnight: men’s semifinals

Tennis Channel’s French Open Tonight Schedule

French Open Tonight airs Sunday, May 22-Thursday, June 2, and typically runs from 6:30 p.m.-10 p.m. ET, and is then repeated twice from 10 p.m.-1:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m.-5 a.m. These are the exceptions are (ET):

Monday, May 23; Saturday, May 28; and Sunday, May 29 – 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m., repeated at 6:30 p.m.-10 p.m., 10 p.m.-1:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m.-5 a.m.

Additionally, shortened encore editions of French Open Tonight will air Tuesday, May 31, and Wednesday, June 1, from 5 a.m.-8 a.m.

Though Grand Slam tennis action has appeared in 3-D on U.S. television networks before, this will be the first time for the French Open, so symbolized by its surface of luxurious red clay, extended rallies and passionate, vocal stadium crowds.

“Tennis Channel prides itself on bringing this sport to our viewers through state-of-the-art broadcast quality that’s second to none,” said Larry Meyers, executive producer and senior vice president, production, Tennis Channel. “In keeping with this, we’re happy to work with AT&T U-verse, Comcast and DIRECTV to be the first network to offer the French Open to U.S. audiences in 3-D. We always say we want viewers to feel like they’re actually in Paris at the French Open when they tune into Tennis Channel, and the images of red clay flying through their televisions at them in 3-D this year will only add to this effort.”

In all Tennis Channel’s fifth year at the French Open will bring more than 75 hours of live or first-run matches to viewers, with another dozen hours of men’s and women’s semifinal same-day encores. The network will carry at least seven live hours a day for the first nine days of the competition, with coverage beginning at 5 a.m. ET (a complete schedule follows, below).

French Open Tonight, hosted by Bill Macatee, will be back each evening for three-and-half hours of highlights, interviews, analysis and special reports from the tournament grounds and Paris at large. Typically running from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ET., the show’s set will again be perched above the French Open’s famed Musketeer Plaza, right in the heart of the crowd. Each night at its conclusion French Open Tonight immediately re-airs twice in its entirety all night and early morning up to the start of the next day’s coverage of live matches. Tennis Channel will produce 42 hours of French Open Tonight this year, with 139 overall hours dedicated to the show during the two-week competition.

Tennis Channel has worked with ESPN2 to bring viewers almost non-stop coverage between the two networks, and will do so again. On most days Tennis Channel’s live matches run from 5 a.m.-noon ET, at which point ESPN2 takes the court until 6:30 p.m. ET, then hands it back over to Tennis Channel’s French Open Tonight. French Open Tonight then runs through the night until the next day’s play. Tennis Channel produces all coverage for both channels, with each cross-promoting the other’s schedule and making use of its own on-air team. All French Open production is in high definition.

On-Air Talent

Since announcing Hall of Famers John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova as lead analysts in 2007, Tennis Channel has continued to add to the star power of its French Open talent roster. New to the team in 2011 is Mary Carillo, one of the most respected sports journalists in the industry, a long-time tennis broadcaster and a 1977 French Open mixed doubles champion with McEnroe. Carillo will host the network’s live tournament desk, conduct interviews, offer perspective and analysis, and handle play-by-play duties during select matches. She will also develop human interest stories and segments during the two-week event. Additionally, Grand Slam winner Lindsay Davenport is back at Roland Garros for the network in 2011, in the first year of her recently signed multiyear, year-round on-air agreement.

Meanwhile, Justin Gimelstob, Corina Morariu, Katrina Adams and Barry MacKay will offer analysis again for the network in Paris this year, along with returning play-by-play men Ted Robinson, Ian Eagle and Leif Shiras. On any given night any one of Tennis Channel’s live-match broadcasters could make an in-person appearance on French Open Tonight with Macatee, and likely each one of them will at some point during the two-week event. In addition to Macatee, the primetime show will feature the talents of Bud Collins, the reporter, broadcaster, writer and expert who has literally written the book on the sport with his Tennis Encyclopedia. They will be joined by Cari Champion, anchor and reporter for Tennis Channel’s year-round Court Report news segment. She will resume the role she held last year, covering the tournament’s grounds and its famous host city, and bringing the off-court bustle and pageantry to viewers back home.

Broadband Coverage

Tennis Channel has streamed live and on-demand matches for free on its Web site, , since it began covering the French Open. This will continue in 2011, with another 10 days of 125 matches and 200 hours of online tennis. However, an upgraded video player will bring it all to viewers at much faster speeds and in high-definition quality. Other new features include picture-in-picture tools, digital video recorder (DVR) capabilities and the option of watching multiple courts simultaneously. In fact, given Tennis Channel’s extensive video-on-demand archives, the Web site’s new video player will allow a site visitor to have up to 20 screens of different matches playing at the same time.

Tennis Channel’s redesigned online video page will again offer daily French Open highlights, player interviews, on-the-ground features and French Open Tonight segments. Other features include real-time scoring, exclusive photos, interactive tournament draws, sweepstakes information and the “Racquet Bracket” tournament prediction game. In addition, veteran tennis reporter Matt Cronin will write for Tennis Channel for the first time during the French Open this year, penning a few columns each week as he begins a year-round presence on the network Web site. He joins returning scribes Steve Flink, Joel Drucker and James LaRosa.

Tennis Channel’s Live 2011 French Open Match Schedule – Entirely in High Definition

(Men’s/Women’s Singles Unless Otherwise Specified)

Date Time (ET) Event

Sunday, May 22 5 a.m.-1 p.m. First-Round Action

Monday, May 23 5 a.m.-3 p.m. First-Round Action

Tuesday, May 24 5 a.m.-Noon First-Round Action

Wednesday, May 25 5 a.m.-Noon Second-Round Action

Thursday, May 26 5 a.m.-Noon Second-Round Action

Friday, May 27 5 a.m.-Noon Third-Round Action

Saturday, May 28 5 a.m.-Noon Third-Round Action

Sunday, May 29 5 a.m.-Noon Round-of-16 Action

Monday, May 30 5 a.m.-Noon Round-of-16 Action

Tuesday, May 31 8 a.m.-Noon Quarterfinals

Wednesday, June 1 8 a.m.-Noon Quarterfinals

Thursday, June 2 5 a.m.-8 a.m. Men’s Doubles Semifinals

Tennis Channel will also offer same-day replays of the singles semifinals (ET):

Thursday, June 2 – 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m.: women’s singles semifinals

Friday, June 3 – 5 p.m.-midnight: men’s semifinals

Tennis Channel’s French Open Tonight Schedule

French Open Tonight airs Sunday, May 22-Thursday, June 2, and typically runs from 6:30 p.m.-10 p.m. ET, and is then repeated twice from 10 p.m.-1:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m.-5 a.m. These are the exceptions are (ET):

Monday, May 23; Saturday, May 28; and Sunday, May 29 – 3 p.m.-6:30 p.m., repeated at 6:30 p.m.-10 p.m., 10 p.m.-1:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m.-5 a.m.

Additionally, shortened encore editions of French Open Tonight will air Tuesday, May 31, and Wednesday, June 1, from 5 a.m.-8 a.m.

NOAH IS FIVE-OH!

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Yannick Noah, the charismatic Frenchmen whose win at the 1983 French Open will be replayed ad-nauseum over the next three weeks, is 50 years old. The dread-locked swash-buckler was born May 18, 1960 in Sedan, France. The following is his biography as it appears in THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS ($35.95, New Chapter Press, www.NewChapterMedia.com)

The kid looked like a tennis prospect, but he was a long way from anywhere that tennis meant anything. And he didn’t have a racket. Just a board that he’d fashioned into the shape of a racket. It was 1971 in Yaounde, Cameroon, West Africa, and a lucky day for 11-year-old Yannick Simone Camille Noah because Arthur Ashe was in town, stopping by on a U.S. State Department good will tour.

So here were two future Hall of Famers, meeting for the first time, at a tennis demonstration, Ashe presiding. Learning that Noah was a French citizen, born May 18, 1960, in Sedan, France, of a French mother and a professional soccer-playing Cameroonian father, Ashe was impressed by the very athletic-looking kid. Arthur gave Yannick a racket, wondering if he would like to get some help with his tennis. Yes. Thus, Ashe contacted his friend (also a future Hall of Famer), Philippe Chatrier, head of the French Tennis Federation, recommending that Noah get proper coaching. Zip! He was whisked off to Paris, eventually to become the most popular French player since the Four Mus­keteers (Borotra, Brugnon, Cochet, Lacoste) were winning the Davis Cup, 1927-32.

Growing to 6-foot-4, 190 lbs, Yannick was a menacing foe, a carefree, acrobatic volleyer who sought the net regardless of sur­face. Could he break the overly long French drought in Paris? Oui! After 37 dry years, going back to Marcel Bernard’s 1946 tri­umph over Jaroslav Drobny, Yannick evicted Mats Wilander from the throne room in 1983, 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3). He was three parts rolled into a delightful one: French, African, the last to win a major with a wooden racket.

An emotional, inspirational figure, he fired France to two Davis Cup finals: first, 1982, as leading player (winning 6 of 8 singles); second, 1991, as captain, convincing left-handed long-shots Guy Forget and infirm Henri Leconte that they could upset the U.S. anchored by Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

Although John McEnroe was too much for young Noah & Co. to deal with in 1982, Yannick’s strong influence fueled the 3-1 ambush of 1991, busting another drought, 59 years between Cups for France. He captained one more Davis Cup in 1996, France over Sweden, 3-2. Then, transferring his leadership talents to his countrywomen, Yannick guided France’s first Federation Cup conquest, a 4-1 defeat of Netherlands in the 1997 final.

He is now a well-known singer, composer entertainer in Europe. His 7-foot son, Joakim Noah, was a basketball All-Amer­ican for the University of Florida (helping the Gators win the NCAA title in 2006 and 2007) and now a member of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls.

With Leconte, Yannick won the French doubles in 1984 over Czechs Pavel Slozil and Tom Smid, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. But, with Forget, he lost the French of 1987 to Anders Jarryd and Robert Seguso 6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, and, with Leconte, the U.S. of 1986, to Ken Flach and Seguso, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (8-6), 6-0.

Charging and daring would-be passers on clay, as he had at Roland Garros, he won the 1985 Italian over Miloslav Mecir, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), and the 1983 German over Jose Higueras, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-0. On a hard court in 1982, he won Palm Springs [Calif.] by shuttting down No. 1 Ivan Lendl’s 44-match winning streak, 6-4,3-6, 6-2.

Noah crashed the world’s Top 10 at No. 9 in 1982, and stayed there for five more years straight in this order: Nos. 5, 10, 7, 4, 8. He turned pro in 1978 and won 23 singles titles, 15 doubles titles and $3,440,660 in prize money

MAJOR TITLES (2)—French singles, 1983; French doubles, 1984. DAVIS CUP—11 years, 26-15 singles, 13-7 doubles. SINGLES RECORD IN THE MAJORS—Australian (11-6), French (40-12), Wimbledon (6-6), U.S. (28-11)