Yannick Noah is a man for whom the family has a very important place. Even if he has decided to settle in Cameroon, far from his family, he continues to see them frequently when returning to Europe or during beautiful holidays in heavenly places. Recently, he found most of his children in Jamaica for a dream week and we could see how his tribe is united despite the distance that separates them. Father of five children from three different women, the artist had his first great love just after his memorable victory at Roland Garros.
Last Frenchman to have won the Parisian tournament, he is the victim of depression “three or four weeks later. Around me, no one understands. I end up opening up to someone, not a professional to a friend who says to me: ‘Get out of France Yann. Come to New Yorkyou will be at peace'”he says in an interview with World last Sunday. This is exactly what he is going to do and at only 23 years old, Yannick Noah goes to America, to forget all the “reviews” and the “judgments”of which he is a victim. “I hated people”he adds.
My dream was to have kids. We started a family very quickly
It is in New York that things will change for the tennis player when he will meet the one who will become his wife and the mother of his first two children, Joakim and Yéléna. “I found my support by meeting Cécilia (Rodhe). By deciding that my career came after my family. My dream was to have kids. We started a family very quickly.”remembers Yannick Noah.
The two lovers married in 1984, a year after they met. A beautiful story from which two children were born, before a divorce in 1987. Today, Yannick and Cécilia continue to maintain very good relations and they met a few months ago in the United States to attend a ceremony in tribute to their son, who has become a huge basketball star. A beautiful romance that will have allowed Yannick Noah to come out of his depression and continue his career, to become one of the very best French players in history.
Find Yannick Noah’s interview in full on the website of the World.