{"id":236160,"date":"2023-09-19T15:12:08","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T15:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/?p=236160"},"modified":"2023-09-19T15:12:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T15:12:08","slug":"im-a-former-french-open-champ-and-us-open-tennis-star-now-im-pop-singer-who-performed-at-live-8-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/lifestyle\/im-a-former-french-open-champ-and-us-open-tennis-star-now-im-pop-singer-who-performed-at-live-8-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"I'm a former French Open champ and US Open tennis star – now I'm pop singer who performed at Live 8 | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"
YANNICK Noah has lived two lives \u2013 one of a tennis star and another of a singer.<\/p>\n
The Frenchman turned to music in 1991, five years before retiring from tennis.<\/p>\n
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Noah, 63, whose dad was a Cameroonian soccer player, was discovered by Arthur Ashe during a tennis clinic in his father's homeland.<\/p>\n
Sports always ran in the family's blood \u2013 the tennis icon's son, Joakim, would be a top-10 draft pick and two-time All-Star in the NBA.<\/p>\n
Noah turned pro in 1977, at the age of 17, before winning his first top-level singles title in Manila the following year.<\/p>\n
During his 14-year career, the 6-foot-4 Frenchman ranked as high as the world's No. 3 in the singles ranking.<\/p>\n
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He also reached the No. 1 in doubles, enjoying the most success alongside Henri Leconte.<\/p>\n
Noah won two Grand Slam titles \u2013 one in singles (1983) and the other in doubles (1984).<\/p>\n
Both came at Roland-Garros where to this day, no other Frenchman has claimed the singles title since the start of the Open era.<\/p>\n
Four decades later, he returned to France's sacred tennis ground to perform his music: a mix of African pop and reggae.<\/p>\n
<\/picture>DEVIL MAY CARE <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/picture>EUR JOKING <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/picture>double trouble <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/picture>PAEDO COACH <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n "I lived my best moment here," Noah said later before the gig, per The New York Times.<\/p>\n "I have memories everywhere here, including my first kiss."<\/p>\n Noah won 23 ATP titles in his tennis career.<\/p>\n But in its later stages, his focus shifted toward music \u2013 so much so that when he lost matches, he would sometimes joke he was just a singer.<\/p>\n Now, sports and music make for two distinct and very different phases in the Sedan-born legend's life.<\/p>\n In 2005, his music talent even allowed him to join the likes of U2, Madonna, and Robbie Williams in performing at Live 8 \u2013 a string of benefit concerts that fundraised money to fight poverty in Africa.<\/p>\n "Once every 10 years, you know, they remind me I was a tennis player," Noah said earlier in 2023.<\/p>\nFour Man Utd stars in furious dressing room bust-up after Brighton defeat<\/h3>\n
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