French former professional tennis player and singer Yannick Noah has confessed that after seeing Rwanda first hand, he got a feeling that it's possible to achieve what many may think impossible, adding, I go back to Cameroon stimulated. Noah, winner of the French Open in 1983, and currently the captain of both France's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams, was in Rwanda for five days last week in his capacity as ATP Rwanda Challenger ambassador. While in Kigali, the 63-year French-Cameroonian met several high-ranking officials in government and the local tennis governing body. He also visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center and the Mountain gorillas in Kinigi. Noah, who won 23 singles titles and 16 doubles titles, sat down with Times Sport's Hamza Nkuutu for an exclusive. Below are the excerpts: Thank you, Yannick, for taking your time off a tight schedule, and talking on to us. We know you're an ambassador for Rwanda Challenger, but besides that, why is Yannick Noah in Rwanda? Well, I was invited here, I heard about the event (Rwanda Challenger), I had a lot of friends from Rwanda back in Cameroon, who talked to me about Rwanda. They said Rwanda is beautiful, I said no, it's not beautiful, I want to go (come) see it myself. So for me, it was an opportunity to come here and visit. I heard a lot of good things about Rwanda from my son (ex-NBA star Joakim Noah). Joakim came here a few times and said to me “dad, you have to go.” Back to the point, my world is tennis. I am actually impressed by the quality of the tournament, the quality of the game and the organization. It's not easy, people might take it for granted but, to organize a tournament of this level, the Challenger is not a small thing. I am happy that I saw a few games including the final (Week 1). What does it mean for a country like Rwanda to host such a tournament of this magnitude? It's important for tennis. As you may know, tennis is not easy to access like some of the major sports we have in countries in Africa where priority is always football, and then it can be basketball, handball or sometimes volleyball, cycling here (Rwanda) I understand is very big. But tennis, for the kids on the street, is very difficult. So the idea is to make tennis accessible and more popular. I know a lot of people here are involved in making tennis more popular but the idea is to have tournaments, to have a stage where you can see that tennis can exist, and then we go from there in trying to make it more popular. The goal is to have tennis more accessible to the kids On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate the Week 1 tournament in terms of organization, and the facilities? I don't want to rate. I know how difficult it is just to even have the players coming. I thought the idea of having two tournaments in a row is very important because, for these players of this caliber, it costs a lot to travel, to get the hospitality, to play, so the courts are very good. It's not easy to have a clay court because clay courts require a lot of work, we had an example an hour before the final. We had heavy rain, next thing we know, the guys are actually playing, this is important. The organization was good from the umpires, the ball boys, and the courts. The hospitality from the hotels is first class and, from talking to some of the players here, they are happy to be here. From what you have seen, if Rwanda continues to host ATP Challenger 50 Tour, do you see a potential chance to upgrade to, say Challenger 75, 100 or even 125? Well it comes down to (the leadership) at the top. From what I understand, the President (Paul Kagame) loves sports, and he likes tennis [the President attended the Rwanda Challenger 1 final]. I had the opportunity to exchange, for a few minutes with him, and I can tell that he loves tennis. As a former tennis player, someone who has been involved with tennis all your life, what is your advice to the people running tennis in Rwanda? I met the president of the federation[Theoneste Karenzi] and he knows exactly what he is at, he knows the challenges he is facing in terms of making it more democratic, to have more access to tennis. Whether it will be public courts, I understand this facility [Kigali Ecology Tennis Club - IPRC-Kigali] kids come and play here for free, which is very good. He knows that exactly; we have been exchanging a lot now and we are going to do it in the future. The idea is to have as many kids playing the game. Besides tennis and Rwanda Challenger, for which you officially came for, how have you seen Rwanda? Would you come back for a private tour? I can tell that there has been so much done over the last 30 years, I am really impressed. You might get used to certain things, for me coming from Cameroon and some countries in West Africa, when I drive around, I am impressed by the quality of the roads. I am impressed by the quality of the City of Kigali, I didn't visit the entire country, so I cannot talk about the whole country, but from what I understand, the countryside is very beautiful, I really appreciate the fact that the people I have met in Rwanda are very proud people, proud of their country. I understand this country has been in a healing process for a while, and I feel it. I go back home to Cameroon very stimulated about what can be done, it gives me a lot of hope. As an African tennis player I know that it's a long way from where we are to the top. (Another) reason why I am here, of course am happy to visit, I'm with my wife, with my daughter, I know it's very important for my kids who are living in Europe, in America to come and feel the African roots, and they come here, I am very proud to show what Africa is. This is something important for me as an old man. What can you transmit to your children? I have children who are American, French, Swedish but they have African blood, and I want them to come back to see, not that they feel at home but also I can visualize what they can do for the continent. You talk about Cameroon so much, you must be a very proud Cameroonian, do you prefer to call yourself French or Cameroonian? Well it's like you prefer your mother or your father. I love my mum, I love my dad, I am both. I was very lucky enough to be able to live my dream as a tennis player because the French (Tennis) Federation gave me this opportunity to practice and become the player that I dreamt of. They gave me the stage where I could become captain of the French team, women, guys (men). I did most of my music career in France, so I owe a lot to my French heritage. I also know where I am coming from, because even though I didn't have the opportunity to play professional tennis in Cameroon, I missed it, that's the way it is. Now, this is my destiny, to come back and do share my knowledge, create what I can create and help the younger generation. And I feel African because, back in the days when I was still playing on the circuit (Tour), I was the only black so you feel it when you're the only one. I felt it and I took it with pride, and I had to represent more than just myself, because I was not just representing Yannick the French-Cameroonian but I was also representing Africa. Rwanda is positioning itself as a hub for international sport, having hosted BAL, and now ATP Tour 50 Challenger, the (UCI) World Championships is coming next year. What’s your take on this? I have been here for four days, and even when I knew what was going on, again as you said, basketball is coming big time here, my son invested in it, he is an ambassador, he believes in African sport, in basketball. I don't want to give lessons to anybody, I just want to learn and I know that what happens here stimulates other countries for sure 100 percent. Now, there are these big tournaments here, and I know, not just me but other countries, other federations are going to look and say ‘hey, this is what they do in Rwanda, what can we do’? Right now it's very stimulating for me, lots of inspiration for me. When I look around, I see these kids, they could be my little kids. Nature is the same, everything is the same but we don't have the infrastructure. It's not up to me but it gives a feeling that it's possible to be done, so when I come here, I go (back) charged, thinking like ‘hey it can be done because I saw it in Kigali’. So I am going back and say ‘OK listen, I saw that we have so many things but there is a lot we can learn from here (Kigali), that is a good exchange’. Thanks so much for your time, sir! We finally did this interview man, we did it, we did it! Who is Yannick Noah? Yannick Noah, born on May 18, 1960, is a French former professional tennis player and singer. Noah won the French Open in 1983, and is currently the captain of both France's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams. During his nearly two-decade career, Noah won 23 singles titles and 16 doubles titles, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 3 in July 1986 and attaining the world No. 1 doubles ranking the following month. Since his retirement from active playing, Noah has remained in the public eye as a popular music performer and as the co-founder, with his mother, of a charity organization for underprivileged children. Noah is also the father of former NBA player Joakim Noah.
