Paris, Nov 28 (AP) Yannick Noah, the 1983 French Open champion, was appointed Thursday as the new head of France's para tennis beginning next year.

The French tennis federation said in a statement that Noah will be in charge of coordinating wheelchair, visually-impaired as well as deaf and hard-of-hearing tennis activities.

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Noah had a first experience with disability tennis over the summer when he led the France men's wheelchair tennis team at the Paris Paralympic Games.

“His main role will be to continue structuring the para tennis department by steering the training and high level' strategy and supporting the development of all para tennis activities across the country,” the French tennis federation said.

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Noah, a celebrity in his home country, is the last man from France to win a Grand Slam singles title and reached a career-best No. 3 in the ATP rankings in 1986. He later was his country's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup captains, leading both teams to championships.

He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.

Noah said he was "delighted" by his appointment to lead a “new mission, which is particularly close to my heart.”

“I had an incredible human experience working alongside the players in the French wheelchair tennis team at the Paralympic Games in Paris and I didn't want this great story to end there,” he added. (AP) UNG 7/21/2024

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)