{"id":6911,"date":"2026-05-27T14:35:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/who-is-moise-kouame-the-youngest-french-open-match-winner-since-1991\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T14:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:35:20","slug":"who-is-moise-kouame-the-youngest-french-open-match-winner-since-1991","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/who-is-moise-kouame-the-youngest-french-open-match-winner-since-1991\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Moise Kouame, the youngest French Open match winner since 1991?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><span>EXPLAINER<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>World no 318\u2019s victory over Marin Cilic also made him the youngest man to claim a Grand Slam victory in 17 years.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Roland Garros might have witnessed the birth of a new tennis megastar this week when local teenager Moise Kouame <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/26\/frances-kouame-becomes-youngest-male-grand-slam-match-winner-in-17-years\">took a historic victory<\/a> at the French Open to become the youngest man to win a major main-draw match in 17 years.<\/p>\n<p>Aged 17 years and two months, Kouame defeated former US Open champion Marin Cilic 7-6(4) 6-2 6-1, raising his arms and throwing his head back as the home crowd on Court Simonne-Mathieu applauded his feat.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/27\/how-senegal-became-genuine-world-cup-2026-contenders-at-a-cost\">How Senegal became genuine World Cup 2026 contenders \u2013 at a cost<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/27\/ufc-fighting-cage-rises-on-white-house-lawn-for-us-and-trump-celebrations\">UFC fighting cage rises on White House lawn for US and Trump celebrations<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/27\/messis-goat-statue-in-india-to-be-removed-over-safety-concerns\">Messi\u2019s GOAT statue in India to be removed over safety concerns<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/27\/pochettino-raises-expectations-as-he-reveals-usmnt-2026-world-cup-roster\">\u2018Why not us?\u2019: Does the US really have a chance of lifting the World Cup?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The victory made him the youngest male player \u2060to win a singles Grand Slam match since Australia\u2019s Bernard Tomic reached the 2009 Australian Open second round at the age of 16. Kouame is the youngest player to register a first-round win at the French Open since Dinu Pescariu of Romania in 1991.<\/p>\n<p>He also became the first teenager to defeat a major champion in his debut Grand Slam main draw match since Marat Safin defeated Andre Agassi at Roland Garros in 1998.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s everything to know about the rising teen sensation.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-moise-kouame-s-personal-background\">What is Moise Kouame\u2019s personal background?<\/h2>\n<p>Born in 2009 in the Parisian suburb of Sarcelles, Kouame is of Ivorian-Cameroonian descent. His mother, who has \u201calways made a big impact\u201d, was his first coach and now manages his career.<\/p>\n<p>Kouame began playing tennis aged six, inspired by his older brother, Michael, and trained at the National Tennis Centre in Poitiers. He is now coached by former world no 7 and fellow countryman Richard Gasquet, with reports suggesting that he added Laurent Raymond to his team earlier this year.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-his-playing-style\">What is his playing style?<\/h2>\n<p>The 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 metres) tall Frenchman has a strong serve and forehand and enjoys playing on every surface, which aligns with his nickname \u201cKTT\u201d \u2013\u00a0 which translates to \u201cKouame every surface\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4605185\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4605185\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/afp_6a16e1364192-1779884342.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"France's Moise Kouame plays a forehand return to Croatia's Marin Cilic during their men's singles match on day 3 of the French Open tennis tournament on Court Simonne-Mathieu at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on May 26, 2026. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA \/ AFP)\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4605185\">Kouame plays a forehand return to Croatia\u2019s Marin Cilic during their men\u2019s singles match on day 3 [Julien de Rosa\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"was-the-french-open-first-round-his-biggest-career-win\">Was the French Open first round his biggest career win?<\/h2>\n<p>Yes, unless he wins his second-round matchup at Roland Garros against Paraguay\u2019s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The Frenchman has won three ITF titles \u2013 the third tier of professional tennis \u2013 and received several wildcards on the main circuit, including at the 2026 Monte-Carlo \u200cMasters and Miami Open, where he defeated Zachary Svajda of the US to become the youngest match winner in the event\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-did-kouame-have-to-say-about-his-historic-victory\">What did Kouame have to say about his historic victory?<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of emotion, it\u2019s exceptional,\u201d Kouame said. \u201cComing into this tournament, I didn\u2019t really know what to \u2060expect. The team and I worked hard to be as ready \u2060as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The teenager cited his experience in Miami and Monte-Carlo as helping him in Tuesday\u2019s win. \u201cTechnically, I felt pretty calm. I knew I was ready and I felt good mentally and physically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a post on Instagram, Kouame thanked all those who have been part of his journey, adding that the win on home soil made it even more special.<\/p>\n<p>The teen also brushed aside the age factor against Cilic, who is 20 years his senior. \u201cI didn\u2019t care about his age. I just wanted to give him shots that were as complicated to play as possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo for some, the age factor may play a role, but as far as I\u2019m concerned, I tried to focus, not to think about it, because in the end, when you\u2019re on court, you don\u2019t think about your age or what you\u2019re going to eat. You think about what you have to do to win.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-s-next-for-the-17-year-old\">What\u2019s next for the 17-year-old?<\/h2>\n<p>While Kouame may not have expected his second French Open singles match against Vallejo, he played the men\u2019s doubles with Giovanni Mpetshi Perrica against US duo Robert Cash and James Tracy, who defeated the Frenchmen 6-4 1-6 6-4.<\/p>\n<p>Kouame and current French no 2 Elsa Jacquemot will pair up for the mixed doubles against Christian Harrison of the US and Hungary\u2019s Fanny Stollar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EXPLAINER World no 318\u2019s victory over Marin Cilic also made him the youngest man to claim a Grand Slam victory in 17 years. Roland Garros might have witnessed the birth of a new tennis megastar this week when local teenager Moise Kouame took a historic victory at the French Open to become the youngest man &#8230; <a title=\"Who is Moise Kouame, the youngest French Open match winner since 1991?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/who-is-moise-kouame-the-youngest-french-open-match-winner-since-1991\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Who is Moise Kouame, the youngest French Open match winner since 1991?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}