France’s Generation Next Is Here: Moises Kouame

France bid adieu to one of its greatest sporting heroes on Monday night when Gael Monfils played his last Roland-Garros match. 

On Tuesday it said hello to its generation next. 

Funny how that works. 

17-year-old Moises Kouame took out Marin Cilic 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-1 to become the youngest man in the Open Era to defeat a Grand Slam champion at Roland-Garros, surpassing Michael Chang en route to the title in 1989.

Kouame, 17 years and two months, is the first player born since 2008 to win a Grand Slam Men’s Singles match – French teenager was born on 6 March 2009. 

“I’m of course looking for more,” he said. “All the practice worked, I want to say. Of course the most important is ahead. So now the head is focused on recovering and being ready as much as possible for the next round.”

Kouame, coached by Richard Gasquet, is decidedly level-headed about his success. He has gained valuable experience on tour this year, particularly at Miami, where he became the youngest player to win a Masters 1000 match since Rafael Nadal in 2003. He seems intent on keeping things low-key as he dips his feet into tennis on the biggest stages. 

“The experience I got from Miami, Monte-Carlo, and also Montpellier probably helped me, because in Montpellier also the atmosphere was good,” he said. 

“As far as the tennis level is concerned, I felt rather relaxed, rather serene. I could feel good with my serve, with my forehand. I knew that if I lost the match, it wouldn’t be stressful, really. I just wanted to go in and have fun, and that’s what I managed to do.

“Now that I have won, it’s even better. But if I hadn’t won today, I would still have had fun at least. After all, that’s the most important thing.”

Kouame will face Daniel Adobo Vallejo in his second-round match.