To the net

A word about the work

( REF : SPHI005)
Every French person who was around at the time can remember what they were doing and where they were on that afternoon of June 5th 1983. There are moments like that, whether you like sport or not, when you can’t not be aware of what is happening, when you are quite simply swept along by it all. There are days like that where the tv, the radio, the noise from the neighbours, or simply other people, all lead you back to this event and you get sucked in.
Yannick Noah in action during the French Open final against Mats Wilander.

I knew that Yannick would be playing agressively against Wilander.
It was his natural game, but against this opponent, who is as regular as clockwork on the base line, it was even more important. So I worked mainly from the pit, the half-sunken space on court intended for the photographers. Sitting there is ideal for shooting close-ups of the player opposite you. Yannick was always very dynamic and powerful when he was volleying. I knew I would take some good shots.

Jean-Denis’s choice

There are thousands of action shots of Yannick Noah. Serving or hitting a smash, the two shots that made him famous, his legendary backhand slice too and all the other gestures and attitudes that make him a champion. But if you could only keep one photo, not necessarily the most spectacular, but the one that sums up the champion and his game, it would be this one. It shows us everything we need to know about his determination, his reach, his energy, his agressive nature on court, his…his…
It sums Yannick Noah up and shows that he was a great tennis player.