Solène Delinger 11:47 a.m., October 24, 2022

Yannick Noah was invited to "Culture Médias" this Monday morning on Europe 1, on the occasion of the release of his new album "La Marfée".

At the microphone of Philippe Vandel, the singer, former tennis champion, explained that he could have continued his sports career for a few more years if he had not been told that he was "too old", at only 30 years old. 

Yannick Noah is making a comeback.

Three years after

Bonheur Indigo

, the 62-year-old singer released 

La Marfée,

a new album marking a return to his roots and his childhood.

Invited to Philippe Vandel's microphone this Monday morning on Europe 1, the Franco-Cameroonian artist and sportsman, great winner of Roland-Garros in 1983, remembers the reasons which led him to end his sports career. 

"30 years was a bit like the beginning of the end"

At the time, Yannick Noah was only 30 years old.

And yet, everyone told him that he was "old", too old to continue playing tennis.

"At 30, I was athletic in that other life. And at 29 and ten months, we were talking about the future. And at 30, all of a sudden, I was told, 'Well, when retirement?'", explains Yannick Noah in

Culture Médias

.

"Now, players have more and more longevity. But at the time, 30 years was a bit the beginning of the end", underlines the singer who was asked: "What is what are you going to do next? Are you going to open a sports store? How does it feel to be old? 

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Find Philippe Vandel and Culture-Médias every day from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Europe 1 as well as in replay and podcast here

"The gaze of others has an influence"

After celebrating his 30th birthday, Yannick Noah continued to play for a few weeks.

But these recurring questions, "at each match exit", quickly discouraged him.

"It's funny how the gaze of others has an influence. So, I stopped a few months later".

Without all these questions, would Yannick Noah have played two, three or even four more years?

"It's possible," he replies to Philippe Vandel.

"At one point, when I was told 'you're old', it started to get inside me".

At the same time, Yannick Noah's children were returning to school, which gave him an additional reason to end his career.

"I found myself traveling ten months a year alone and it got me drunk, I wanted to be near my family",