Joseph Oyebog: A Cameroonian Tennis Hero, RIP
The compatriot of Yannick Noah, who taught impoverished children tennis, died on May 27. Who will fill his shoes, and will another Frenchman actually win the French Open?
Arthur Ashe may still be the most well-known African-American player and Civil Rights activist for crashing the Apartheid-sponsored South African Open in the early 1970s. Still, nothing — neither Ashe’s press conferences, nor his grandstanding — did more for French or African tennis than Ashe’s spotting of a 10-year-old Yannick Noah whacking tennis balls with a homemade racquet against the wall at the Tennis Club de Yaoundé Cameroon. Ashe, on yet another U.S. State-Department supported whistle-stop tour of sub-Saharan African, offered a to have a hit with “our next Great Black Hope” and then phoned Philippe Chartrier, president of the Fédération Française de Tennis, to notify him of “a colonial subject” who could play. “First he serves right down the middle past me. Then he whaps one clean into the open court,” Ashe said in a 1980 Sports Illustrated article. “Here was this little chocolate-colored person knocking the absolute hell out of the ball. I say to myself, what is this?”
Even though Noah, the son of a Cameroonian footballer, was born in France and brought back to Cameroon at a young age, Ashe ensured Noah had passage back for a spot at the Académie Française de Tennis in Nice. Noah went on to win the French Open in 1983 — still the last French man to do so — and later became captain of both France's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams after capturing 23 singles titles. And although Noah never publicly recognized the Cameroonian Tennis Federation (“They want me to say they helped me,” he said. “It is too late. I have no responsibility to a race or to a country. Just to my family.”), one contemporary of his believed from the end of his career to his dying day this past week that Cameroon (and Africa) was the future of tennis.
Joseph Oyebog Sr., who died on Tuesday due to complications from pancreatitis, was a son of relative African privilege exposed to tennis at a young age, who carved out a successful career after moving to the United States in 1994 to coach at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy (now IMG Academy). After five years working with players such as the Williams’ sisters and brushing shoulders with the likes of Andre Agassi and Jim Courier, Oyebog collected used balls, fixed broken tennis racquets and scraped together unused court time at exclusive clubs in Yaoundé to establish the Oyebog Tennis Academy (OTA). “This all began from my personal story,” Oyebog told the USTA for an article in 2024 “Most of my friends weren’t allowed to play tennis growing up, and I wanted to expose underprivileged kids to tennis and help change their lives.”
With consistent fundraising, Oyebog purchased land in 2011 and built nine hard courts, six clay courts, dorms, a healthcare facility and a school in nearby Souza, elevating the academy to international standing. Since its humble beginnings, however, with a hitting wall and dirt court, OTA has sent more than 20 players to the U.S. on college scholarships and even helped launch the tennis careers of his own children, Joseph, Jr., who trains at his father’s alma mater, the IMG Academy in Florida, and Lucy. “When we started, it was a place where boys and girls could play, forget about war, malaria and just wanted a playground for something fun,” Oyebog said. “Of course I prayed we could do it as long as we could, but I did not expect 25 years. It has had a ripple effect where kids are giving better lives to their families, and that’s where our biggest accomplishment lies,”
French Open Second Round
The dirt season finishes over the next two weeks with Back the Brits being loudly heard over Ally with the Americans and possibly (again) Forget the French? Jack Draper (ATP No. 5), Jacob Fearnley (ATP No. 55) and Cam Norrie (ATP No. 81) continue their Tale of Two Surfaces battle by advancing into the second rounds with defeats over qualifiers, as well as Norrie’s five-set assault on Daniil Medvedev (ATP No. 11). But while Norrie got a break in a second round match against an unknown Argentinian to advance to the third — possibly his best record in a year — the Roland Garros draw put Fearnley and Draper against two popular veteran Frenchmen, Ugo Humbert (ATP No. 21) and crowd-pleaser Gael Monfils, (ATP No. 42), respectively. And the 38-year-old rubber band man showed no signs of disappointing on his home turf, despite his four-set, hard-fought loss, even if his 23-year-old adversary ran a lesser risk of pulling… something.
Top American Taylor Fritz (ATP No. 4) went out in the first round, while hard-court contemporaries, Frances Tiafoe (ATP No. 16), Sebastian Korda (ATP No. 24), Ben Shelton (ATP No. 13) (with a walkover) and Tommy Paul (ATP No. 12) in a five setter weren’t out to make allies with anyone in Europe. Jannik Sinner (ATP No. 1) re-asserted his dominance and ended fellow 38-year-old Frenchman Richard Gasquet’s playing career, after his reputation as the “fifth greatest single-hander (backhand) of the Open era,” had long faded.
On the women’s side, all the Brits were done before anyone could cry out to “back ‘em.” The biggest disappointment (or greatest joy, depending on nationality) came when resurgent former golden child Emma Raducanu was demolished by Iga Swiatek, 6-1, 6-2, in the second round, as the Polish player looked to find her mojo again after sliding from the WTA’s Top 3 slots for the first time in like… forever. Katie Boulter remained stoic, yet unable to prove that she could win much outside her own island nation with a 6-1, 6-3 loss to an older and wiser Madison Keys (WTA No. 8). Lastly, underdog favourite, Sonay Kartal (WTA No. 56) went out in round two to Czech qualifier.
For the French, the first round proved another Waterloo, with captain of French hearts, Caroline Garcia (WTA No. 144) losing in straight sets (it was her last French Open) to American Bernard Pera, 6-4, 6-4, just a few days after announcing her retirement from tennis. Diane Parry (WTA No. 93), now the top French player, couldn’t advance either, losing to an American unknown. By the second round, only French Challenger dwellers Elsa Jacquemot (WTA No. 138) and Lois Boisson (WTA No. 361) gave “'les grenouilles” some hope by notching impressive wins over American Alycia Parks (WTA No. 52) and Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina (WTA No. 113). In addition to Keys, Americans Sofia Kenin (WTA No. 30), Coco Gauff (WTA No. 2) Hailey Baptiste (WTA No. 70) and Jessica Pegula (WTA No. 3) advanced.
Back to the Late Oyebog’s Legacy
While it’s hard to determine how or why Oyebog developed severe pancreatitis, a last-ditch effort was made to fly the beloved coach out of Cameroon and to the United States for medical care as late as Monday night. Friends also set up a GoFundMe initially o raise money for Oyebog’s evacuation to a major healthcare facility in Connecticut, which his wife of nearly 20 years and his four children call home. The page remains, only this time to fund funeral costs, to support his four children and help sustain the academy. So far, it has raised nearly $72,000 in a matter of just a few days.
Currently, hopes rest on his son, Joesph Junior, one of the top-ranked African juniors in the world and a rising star in the U.S. who, before moving to Florida, commuted three hours per day from Fairfield, Connecticut to train at he John McEnroe Tennis Academy on Randall’s Island in the City. Like so many before him, however, Junior learned to play at the famous hitting wall his father set up for him in Bonaberi.
“I was part of the academy back home but wasn’t great there. The other kids were better than me so I’d go home and cry,” Junior has said. “But that’s honestly what kept me going. I wanted to be as good as them or better.
“Having (my dad) understand the journey of what it’s like and what it takes, is refreshing. As long as you give 100 percent and keep fighting and digging, he’s happy. Results may not come now, but they’re going to show up sooner or later,” Junior said. “Not every day does someone get to have a dad that’s supportive and helps you follow your passion. I wouldn’t exchange it for anything.”
For the 25th anniversary celebration of the Oyebog Academy in February 2024, the big man decided to leave a larger-than-life impression. He gathered nearly 1,500 students on the courts of his academy and set the Guinness World Record for the largest tennis lesson of all time, nearly doubling the previous record. Before the lesson, he honored tennis legend and longtime friend and supporter, Yannick Noah.
“This clinic not only will help bring attention to the program but help step up tennis in Africa,” Oyebog said. “Some of the greatest tennis ambassadors of tennis have completely forgotten about Africa, so we did this to show them we’re here and need their support to continue to grow.”
