The 2026 vintage of Roland-Garros got off to a flying start. At Porte d’Auteuil, the favorites are trying to hold their place but several shocks are already shaking the men’s table. On the French side, the results remain mixed with only nine Tricolores qualified for the second round out of thirty entered, one of the worst starts in the last thirty years according to Franceinfo. Despite this, the Parisian public has found its new favorite: Moïse Kouamé. At only 17 years old, the Frenchman is becoming the attraction of the tournament after two major performances. Thursday May 28, he overthrew the Paraguayan Adolfo Daniel Vallejo at the end of a crazy fight lasting almost five hours, concluded in an unbreathable super tie-break. Trailing 5-2 in the last round, the young player never cracked. “I never stopped believing in it…he confided after the meeting, in reference to Carlos Alcaraz who had the same lie during his final last year. A victory snatched from the mind which completely capsized the Suzanne-Lenglen court.
What do we know about Moïse Kouamé, the new hope of French tennis?
If his name was still unknown to the general public a few months ago, Moise Kouamé is already making a lot of noise in the world of tennis. Born on March 6, 2009 in Sarcelles, in Val-d’Oise, to a Cameroonian mother and an Ivorian father, the young prodigy discovered the little yellow ball at the age of 5 with his brother Michaël. Very quickly spotted for his qualities, he went through the academies of Justine Henin then Patrick Mouratoglou before joining the entourage of Richard Gasquet, who became his trainer. From the height of his 91 meter height, the Frenchman impresses with his power on serve, his enormous forehand and his astonishing maturity for his age. “I don’t think my opponent today, when playing me, was saying to himself: ‘He’s 17!’â€he explained recently at a press conference. Admirer of Novak Djokovic, fan of Lionel Messi, Harry Potter, the card game Skyjo and Formula 1, Moise Kouamé nevertheless keeps his feet on the ground. “Like anyone who plays tennis, I hope to be world number 1. Afterwards, do I have the capabilities? We’ll see later. I try to take as much energy as possible, I try to go very, very far in my career but we will see†, he confided to West France in 2024, without hiding its ambitions.
A surprise elimination for Jannik Sinner
But this 2026 edition already has its enormous thunderclap in store. Big favorite of the tournament after the withdrawal of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner left Roland-Garros in the second round, beaten in five sets by the Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo. However, the Italian launched his match perfectly on the Philippe-Chatrier court, winning the first two rounds before suddenly collapsing physically. While he was still leading 5-1 in the third set, the world number 1 began to show worrying signs of weakness, chaining together lost games and even requesting a medical interruption. Under more than 30 degrees, Jannik Sinner seemed to be in physical pain, having already experienced several breakdowns in high heat. The Italian player mainly complained about hip pain to his trainer. The rest of the match turned into a nightmare for the four-time Grand Slam winner, unable to regain his level and completely dominated in the last two sets. Finally beaten 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6, 1-6, Jannik Sinner therefore leaves Porte d’Auteuil much earlier than expectedhe who dreamed of finally winning the only Grand Slam tournament missing from his record.
