Yannick Noah the French Tennis Federation's training center in Nice in 1971. Noah turned professional in 1977 and won his first top-level singles title in 1978 in Manila. Noah became France's most prominent tennis hero in 1983, becoming the first Frenchman in 37 years to win the French Open, one of the four Grand Slam singles events. He dropped only one set during the two-week-long tournament, and defeated the defending champion, Sweden's Mats Wilander in straight sets in the final, 6–2, 7–5, 7–6. He remains the last and most recent Frenchman to have won the French Open men's singles title. Noah won
1987 Italian Open (tennis) 1987 Italian Open (tennis) The 1987 Italian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome in Italy that was part of the 1987 Nabisco Grand Prix and of 1987 Virginia Slims World Championship Series. The men's tournament was held from 11 May through 17 May 1987 while the women's tournament was held from 4 May through 10 May 1987. Mats Wilander and Steffi Graf won the singles titles. Mats Wilander defeated Martín Jaite 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 Steffi Graf defeated Gabriela Sabatini 7–5, 4–6, 6–0 Guy Forget / Yannick Noah defeated Miloslav Mečíř