Yannick Noah captained the French team to its first Davis Cup victory in 59 years, defeating a heavily favoured US team 3–1 in the final. This feat was repeated in 1996, when Noah coached the French team to defeat Sweden 3–2 in the final held in Malmö. In 2017, Noah added a third Davis Cup win for France under his guidance as Captain, defeating Belgium in the final in Lille. In 1997, he also captained France's Fed Cup team to its first ever win of that competition when they defeated the Dutch in the final. Since retiring from playing tennis, Noah developed
Tweener (tennis) version was called the "Gran Willy"), Yannick Noah, Ilie Nastase, Gabriela Sabatini (whose version became known as "the Sabatweenie"), Roger Federer, Juan Martín del Potro, Nick Kyrgios, Daria Kasatkina, Agnieszka Radwańska and Simona Halep. The origin of the backward shot is unclear; both Argentine Guillermo Vilas and French player Yannick Noah claim to have invented it. Both players used it somewhat regularly in the 1970s. Vilas was inspired by an advertisement where a polo player hit a backwards shot between his horse's hind legs. He debuted his version in a 1974 exhibition match at the courts of Obras Sanitarias Club