French teenager Moise Kouame, who became youngest Grand Slam match winner in first round, defeats Adolfo Daniel Vallejo.
Save Share facebook x whatsapp-stroke copylink France's Moise Kouame reacts during his second round match against Paraguay's Adolfo Daniel Vallejo at the French Open [Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters] By Kevin Hand Published On 28 May 2026 28 May 2026 France’s Moise Kouame has become the youngest man since Rafael Nadal in 2003 to reach the third round of a Grand Slam with a stunning match tie-break victory against Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo.
Kouame became the youngest Grand Slam match winner in 17 years when, at age 17, he beat former US Open champion Marin Cilic in the first round Recommended Stories list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Scotland fans book 20 school buses for games at ‘inaccessible’ US World Cup list 2 of 4 Argentina’s ‘El Loco’ faces Uruguay mutiny ahead of World Cup list 3 of 4 Ireland football coach urges players to ‘win this war’ against Israel list 4 of 4 Iran seeks multiple-entry US visas for its World Cup squad and staff end of list Kouame’s 6-3 7-5 6-3 6-2 6-6 (10-8) defeat of Vallejo came in front of a partisan Parisian home support at Roland Garros, who cheered the local boy to the very last point as he defied Vallejo’s charge.
The 22-year-old is ranked 71st in the world – compared with Kouame’s 318 listing – and recovered from a narrow second set defeat to storm back level from two sets down, then moving to the verge of victory at 5-3 in the fifth, only for his teenage opponent to break back.
Whether it was Kouame’s energy first, or that of the crowd, the crescendo almost spilled over to the following game, as the crowd had to be settled and nearly impinged on points.
Vallejo was not perturbed and produced his own fire in searing Parisian heat to keep Kouame and his feverish following at bay.
Kouame held serve with the aid of two stunning backhands down the line that brought the crowd to their feet and took the match to a tie break – the youngster responded with a showmanship and swagger that suggests a star may just have been born.
His feat, matching that of Nadal at Wimbledon 20 years ago, was pushed to a one-sided finale by another backhand in his final break of serve in the longest game of the match before holding his own game.
The 10-point match tie-break that followed saw Kouame storm to the first five points, only for his plucky Paraguayan opponent to once again prove his own resilience by drawing level at six points each.
By 7-7, Kouame somehow produced his fastest serve of the day for an ace that was only the latest in a long line of party tricks.
The backhands and drop shots wowed all the way, but it was a cross-court forehand that broke Vallejo to move to 9-8. Then came the moment to hold his serve, as well as his nerve.
As the home crowd and their newfound star soaked in the moment – it would appear a new Parisian love affair has just begun.
