Paul Rouget, Media365: published on Thursday December 14, 2023 at 1:33 p.m.
During the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Yannick Noah will be captain of the French men’s wheelchair tennis team, to “lead the Blues to victory”.
He is back ! Even if he never really left… Former captain of the French Davis Cup team, with whom he was crowned three times (1991, 1996 and 2017), and of the Fed Cup (one title, in 1997), Yannick Noah has been named head of the French men’s wheelchair tennis team, announced the French Tennis Federation (FFT) on Thursday. “Yannick still wanted to give for our federation, explained Gilles Moretton, the president of the FFT, at a press conference. In his mission with the federation, he very often visited the CNE (National Training Center , editor’s note), where he had a mission of mental preparation and support for certain projects. Since the start of the year, we have also hosted paratennis there. I saw that this challenge could interest him. He is also very knowledgeable well Stéphane Houdet, which helped.”
“A fantastic adventure”
Quadruple Grand Slam winner, in singles, and triple gold medalist, in doubles, at the Paralympic Games, Houdet is indeed at the origin of this idea, confirmed Noah. “He called me before the Tokyo Olympics. He told me: ‘You played individually, you won the Davis Cup, the Fed Cup but you’re not a real crazy person because you’re never came with us”. I was overwhelmed and I said to myself what a good idea, explains the last French winner of a Major in a press release. Then, it took a little time for it to fall into place. It’s a fantastic adventure. I’m super excited. We are currently in a phase where we are getting to know each other. I also discover the specificities of wheelchair tennis, the areas to work on, our strong points and our weak points. It’s exciting.” Eight months before the Games (scheduled from August 30 to September 7), “the objective is to improve every day. If some, like Stéphane Houdet, already have a good track record, others have plenty of room for improvement. The objective is to put them in the best possible conditions during the week of the tournament and to perform to the maximum,” concludes Noah.
2023-12-14 12:33:00
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