“It’s my destiny to be here”: the radical change of life of Yannick Noah after the death of his father

Yannick Noah left the world of tennis at the same time as France. Since the death of his father, the former sportsman has drastically changed his life. It is in Cameroon, the country where he was born, that Raw and 20 Minutes found him, who became “the patriarch, a sort of old-fashioned leader” of Etoudi. At 61, he felt this deep need to send his daily life to hell to settle in this village where the inhabitants call him “dad Yannick”, “uncle Yannick” and “in a while, (…) ‘Papi Yannick'”. Here, the winner of Roland-Garros in 1983 spends most of his time with the villagers. “Knowing that you are already present, he summarizes in the report, but also take care of the little ones, take care of the old ones and then for the young people, it’s a beer from time to time.” And he does not regret his choice!

“I couldn’t have come back three years ago. And then, all of a sudden, it was the right time! Now I feel so good: this is where I have to be!”, he assures our colleagues, while remembering that this drastic change was not an easy task: “I came from France, with my French culture, anyway, so I had to start learning again, to understand at least the local dialect. It’s a real responsibility, but I’m a fighter”. To change his life, Yannick Noah waited “the good moment” : “All of a sudden, I had a call”. This call, he dates it to the death of his father, Zacharie Noah, on January 8, 2017.

Yannick Noah: “I no longer have parents, I have lost friends”

“This Sunday morning in Yaoundé, Zacharie Noah left us, peacefully in his sleep. He left surrounded by all his family”, wrote the son of this former footballer, who played for Stade Saint-Germain in 1956, before being recruited by Sedan. Before settling in Cameroon, the ex-sportsman traveled the world. “I’ve been living at sea for two and a half years, just cut off by two round trips of five weeks for the Davis Cup. A wonderful parenthesis, he confided in 2019. I have always loved the sea, the calm, the sailors, the solidarity of these people. When we meet, we say hello, like bikers. It’s all stupid, but I love it. I no longer have any parents, I have lost friends, my sixty brooms are arriving quickly, my four older ones have their lives. It was time.” The moment, it is now taking place in Cameroon.

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