Wildcard Moise Kouame, 17, thrills home crowd to beat Cilic on debut
French 17-year-old Moise Kouame might need to seriously reconsider his dream job after landing an emotional breakthrough against former world No.3 Marin Cilic in his Roland-Garros debut on Tuesday.
The youngest player in the Open era to topple a major champion at the event, the future of French tennis needed a moment to compose himself as he attempted to address a packed crowd chanting his name on Court Simonne-Mathieu following the 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-1 victory.
The wildcard, who told ATP.com in February he would ideally love to make a living from behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car, had every reason to consider he had chosen the right career path after such a vocal ovation from his home crowd brought tears of joy.
“A lot of emotions, of course. It's exceptional,” Kouame said. “Coming to play this tournament, I didn't exactly know what to expect. It's true that the team and I worked hard to be as close as possible. Today … the entire crowd really helped on break points, at the end of the set.
"It certainly wasn't easy, but I always try to stay in the moment, not think too much about the score, and today I really managed to do that well.”
That team, which includes former French world No.7 Richard Gasquet, primed the teenager for his first Grand Slam debut, but just how the world No.318 would embrace the occasion remained to be seen.
Despite all the hype, such boisterous support and the calibre of opponent, Kouame never flinched – even with the finish line in sight – frequently whipping up the crowd with outstretched arms.
It was just his second tour-level match win following this year’s Miami Masters.
“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 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 stress, 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.”
A first tour-level win on clay, his first in three attempts against a top-50 opponent and the first man born in 2008 or later to win at this level, Kouame was also the youngest man to reach the second round in Paris since 1991.
The 20-year, five-month age gap between the pair was not even on the teenager’s radar.
“I didn't care about his age. I just wanted to give him shots that were as complicated to play as possible,” he said. “So for some, the age factor may play a role, but as far as I'm concerned, I tried to focus, not to think about it, because in the end, when you're on court, you don't think about your age or what you're going to eat. You think about what you have to do to win.”
The world No.318, who cites Novak Djokovic as his idol for his fighting qualities and Petra Kvitova as his favourite player to watch growing up, meets Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo for a place in the third round.
With the tennis gig well on track there has been little time to consider a career pivot any time soon.
The need to obtain a driver’s licence is at least holding off those early-held F1 driving ambitions.
“For my driving lessons, it's a bit more complicated,” he grinned. “But for sure when I have time, I will work more on that point. Actually, I like cars and driving, but it's just I don't have time so much to put on, you know, after all the hours in a day of training.
“You have to eat and sleep after, so it's really difficult to find the room for these kind of things, but for sure when I have a little bit of time, I will look into it.”
ROLAND-GARROS
18 May - 7 June 2026
