Kids dream big, live large on Yannick Noah Day

Welcome to Roland-Garros charity day, created in 1977 and renamed Yannick Noah Day in 2023. Here, in the spirit of France’s last Grand Slam men's singles champion, dreams will be cultivated.

Come, take a tour with us and realise your dream vicariously. 

First stop, a walk across the grounds. Destination: Court Suzanne-Lenglen. 

There was a hearty round of applause inside the majestic arena for Caroline Garcia, the 31-year-old Frenchwoman who recently shared news that she will be playing at her home Grand Slam for the last time this year. 

As is the Yannick Noah Day custom on Lenglen, before practice Garcia lofted a ball into the crowd and the recipient of said ball became the lucky winner of: a hitting session with the former world No.4! 

An ambassador quickly whisked the winning girl away, what appeared to be her mum happily trailing the two as they walked up the steps and disappeared, on the way to pick up a proper racket. 

At the conclusion of practice, the 10-year-old with charming braids emerged courtside, cradling a Wilson racket and waiting expectantly while Garcia and Diane Parry finished their paces. Young kids have had worse days…

Quelle surprise, the jeune fille was equipped with a beautiful forehand; artful, with a looping backswing and a solid low-to-high swing path. Could she one day be the future of French tennis in the vein of Lenglen, Mauresmo, Pierce and Garcia? One can dream, especially on Yannick Noah Day.

The kid looked like she would have stayed out there for eternity, but the schedule is tight on this special day. Time for a quick photo with Garcia, and a nice round of applause. What a moment! 

It’s not only Court Suzanne-Lenglen that creates a state of awe. All courts are open for business on this day of celebration. Everywhere one looks a star is putting their dazzling tennis on display, with awe-struck spectators captivated to see their heroes up close and personal.

Casper Ruud battled Sebastian Baez on Court 12, while Karen Khachanov and Holger Rune went toe-to-toe on the iconic Court 14. 

Be your own hero

On the opposite side of the grounds, Court 2 was dedicated to giving citizens a chance to grab a racket and make like their heroes.  

No professionals here, just young aspirants, permitted to play on the fabled terre battue. What could be better? Kids of all shapes and sizes, handed rackets and permitted to slide to their heart’s content. Across the stands on Court 3, another grand event: a chance for everyone to experience the rigours of wheelchair tennis. Young ones take seats and an entirely new perspective on tennis, and life, appears. Enlightening to say the least.

“It’s not easy to move, is it?” the emcee says to the kids. Indeed it is not.

Next, a baguette, a sit-down and some people-watching. 

Here is a man in a striped shirt dipping a winged contraption into a bucket of soapy water. Soon, beautiful streams of bubbles are flowing and a gaggle of kids have everything they need to get lost in the moment. Tennis can wait for these young ones. 

When the man in the striped shirt pauses for his lunch break, the look of disappointment on the kids’ faces is priceless. How dare he? Not to worry, they'll soon be entertained again. 

And again. 

Yannick Noah Day is a day to wander. A day to linger. A day to mingle with the ghosts of tennis past and present. 

With unlimited access to every court, curious minds can amble past ushers and get comfortable with every different vantage point that the show courts have to offer. This intrepid scribe quickly gravitated to the top of the tribunes on the west side of Court Suzanne-Lenglen for the first time to find: voila! The view is fantastic! From there, one can look over the edge and take a birds-eye view of Roland-Garros in all its glory.

During one serendipitous moment we turn to catch a glimpse of Grigor Dimitrov and Jannik Sinner on Court 9. They were strutting their stuff in front of a packed audience, and just a smidge to the right, Frances Tiafoe was on Court 8. 

Further west, one could spot ‘Minister of Happiness’ Ons Jabeur and Elise Mertens tagging groundstrokes on Court 7, while across the alley 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys hit on Court 6.

All this from one vantage point, high in the sky. Tennis heaven!

As Sinner left his practice court, a massive swarm of autograph seekers surrounded him, tilting their giant yellow tennis balls in his direction. Young children, granted temporary reprieve from their parents, scurried past me in the top row and strained to see, profiting from our shared slice of tennis heaven. 

So many kids! So many smiles! A multitude of Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ‘Oles!’, not yet booming, sometimes too timid, but clearly destined for the big-time. 

At the end of the day, we trek back the length of the grounds to get to Lenglen for one last look. There is Daniil Medvedev, ready for his 5pm practice session. Another ball lofted into a sea of spectators with good news soon to come…