Yannick Noah and as the co-founder, with his mother, of a charity organization for underprivileged children. Noah is also the father of Joakim Noah of the NBA Memphis Grizzlies Born in the north of France in 1960, Yannick Noah is the son of a Cameroonian footballer, Zacharie Noah, and his French wife Marie-Claire. After a sports injury in 1963, Noah's father returned to Africa with his family. He was living in Cameroon when he made his debut in tennis and was discovered at age 11 by Arthur Ashe and Charlie Pasarell. He soon showed an amazing talent that eventually brought him to
Smash (tennis) the "skyhook", a version of the overhead smash in which the Eastern grip used to hit the ball further behind the body than is possible with a traditional overhead smash. Pete Sampras (and before him Yannick Noah) popularized the "jump smash", where the player jumps and then hits the smash in mid-air. The shot is often also called a slam dunk, as in basketball. Smash (tennis) A smash in tennis is a shot that is hit above the hitter's head with a serve-like motion. It is also referred to as an overhead. A smash can usually be hit with a