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
1981 Grand Prix (tennis) Jimmy Connors (USA) 4. José Luis Clerc (Arg) 5. Guillermo Vilas (Arg) 6. Björn Borg (Sue) 7. Roscoe Tanner (USA) 8. Eliot Teltscher (USA) 9. Vitas Gerulaitis (USA) 10. Yannick Noah (Fra) The list of winners and number of singles titles won, alphabetically by last name: The following players won their first title in 1981: 1981 Grand Prix (tennis) The 1981 Volvo Grand Prix was the only men's professional tennis circuit held that year. It consisted of the four Grand Slam tournaments and the Grand Prix tournaments. The World Championship Tennis (WCT) Tour was incorporated into the Grand Prix circuit.