French teenager was unbeaten headed into his ATP Tour main-draw debut in Montpellier and it showed
There’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to young Moïse Kouame. The French 16-year-old who took to the blue and pink courts of the Open Occitanie in Montpellier earlier this month, having received a wildcard into the qualifying draw, impressed at the ATP 250 event.
The tennis wonderkid, of Ivorian and Cameroonian descent, is held in high regard and it's obvious to see why. The teenager, from the northern suburbs of Paris, has enjoyed an impressive start to 2026.
Not only has he won two professional titles already this year, and qualified for a first ATP Tour event, he has achieved both feats with a degree of professionalism and maturity rarely seen from a player of such a young age.
His maturity was on show in his second-round qualifying match against fellow Frenchman Clément Chidekh in Montpellier. After failing to convert three match points, in a second-set tiebreak, the teenager went on to lose five straight points and ultimately lost the set to his 24-year-old countryman.
Did that derail his hopes of making a first main-draw appearance? Not at all. Kouame maintained his composure and overcame Chidekh 6-3 in the deciding set to claim the match 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-3 and send him through to his maiden ATP Tour main draw.
Kouame showed similar composure in the previous round against Sweden’s Elias Ymer, 29, fending off a match point en route to a three-sets victory – 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. I repeat, Kouame is only 16. Yet his mental fortitude has been evident despite his limited time on the professional circuit.
By coming through qualifying in Montpellier, Kouame became the sixth-youngest player to qualify for an ATP Tour event since 2000, joining the likes of Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet. Although not present in Montpellier, Gasquet is part of Kouame’s team in a consultancy capacity. Certainly a wise voice to have in your corner.
But onto the main draw, how would Kouame fare against top-100 opponent and last year’s runner-up Aleksander Kovacevic? Would he be out of his depth? Would he be overcome with nerves playing his first match at this level?
It didn’t look like it.
Kouame took the opening set in a tiebreak, impressively winning 29 of his 34 points on serve, leaving the Kovacevic with work to do. Kouame looked comfortable in the rallies and composed when confronted with pressure. However, an early break on the Kouame serve in the second set gave Kovacevic the upper hand, as the American maintained his steady level and Kouame’s took a slight dip.
Kovacevic displayed a valiant fight back and saw out the match 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 54 minutes.
Despite the routine nature of sets two and three, Kouame was able to save a couple of match points when Kovavevic was serving for the match, one of which was a stunning forehand cross-court passing shot which got the home crowd up on their feet. A parting gift if you will.
After the match, Kovacevic spoke highly of Kouame's game. “He’s someone that obviously just came on to the tour,” he said during his on-court interview, “we’ll be seeing a lot more of him, he’s a very talented player.
“I don’t know what I was doing at 16 but it wasn’t that. Amazing player, he was outplaying me in the first set. He dropped his level just a tad and that’s how it went.
“He raised his level there in the last game. If he played that last game the whole second and third set, he probably beats me today.”
Given the amount of tennis Kouame has played recently, a defeat at some point felt inevitable for the teenager. Let’s not forget that Kouame had been on a 12-match winning streak before being dealt his first loss of the year.
His two titles in 2026 have come on home soil – ITF events in Hazebrouck and Bressuire last month. His success in Hazebrouck saw him become the youngest player to win a futures title since none other than world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz.
Kouame’s impressive performance in Montpellier has also seen his ranking rise to a career high 503 – he entered the event ranked 552. But even this new ranking seems a little deceiving. His victories in qualifying came against players ranked 202 (Chidekh) and 159 (Ymer).
If he is securing wins over players of this level, and taking a set off Kovacevic, who has been ranked as high as 54 in the world, it’s fair to say that Kouame’s ranking could be higher than his current career high.
Look out for Kouame on the ATP Challenger circuit where Chidekh and Ymer spent the majority of 2025. He was most recently in action at the Pau Challenger where he fell in the first round to German 25-year-old Henri Squire in straight sets.
Patience must be exercised for the young talent, but Kouame will certainly have more eyes on him after his displays so far this year and you cannot help but be excited by a player showing this much potential.
Words by Caleb Akpo-Young