Former French Open champion Yannick Noah takes charge of para tennis at the French federation

 Yannick Noah, the 1983 French Open champion, was appointed Thursday as the new head of France's para tennis beginning next year.

The French tennis federation said in a statement that Noah will be in charge of coordinating wheelchair, visually-impaired as well as deaf and hard-of-hearing tennis activities.

Noah had a first experience with disability tennis over the summer when he led the France men's wheelchair tennis team at the Paris Paralympic Games.

“His main rolewill be to continue structuring the para tennis department by steering the training and high level' strategy and supporting the development of all para tennis activities across the country,” the French tennis federation said.

Noah, a celebrity in his home country, is the last man from France to win a Grand Slam singles title and reached a career-best No. 3 in the ATP rankings in 1986. He later was his country's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup captains, leading both teams to championships.

He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.

Noah said he was "delighted" by his appointment to lead a “new mission, which is particularly close to my heart.”

“I had an incredible human experience working alongside the players in the French wheelchair tennis team at the Paralympic Games in Paris and I didn't want this great story to end there,” he added.