France’s Kouame becomes youngest male Grand Slam match-winner in 17 years

At 17, Moise Kouame becomes the youngest winner of a Grand Slam match with French Open win against Marin Cilic.French teenager Moise Kouame announced himself on the Grand Slam stage in emphatic fashion, ⁠beating former US Open champion Marin Cilic 7-6(4) 6-2 6-1 at the French Open to become the youngest man to win a major main-draw match in 17 years.Handed a wildcard by organisers, the 17-year-old French teen ⁠looked entirely unfazed on Court Simonne Mathieu in the first-round match on Tuesday as he made his Grand Slam debut against a player 20 years his senior and a former world number three.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US Supreme court rejects NFL attempt to move racism case to arbitrationlist 2 of 3Minorities at World Cup fear ICE threat and how US immigration is enforcedlist 3 of 3‘United’ Spain first as Barcelona top absent Real Madrid in World Cup squadend of listCilic, the 2014 US Open champion and a Roland Garros semifinalist in 2022, arrived in Paris ranked 46th in the world but was outplayed by the ‌fearless teenager, whose speed in defence and deft drop shots repeatedly drew applause from the crowd.Ranked 318th, Kouame edged a tense opening set in a tiebreak after saving two set points before taking control of the match.“It wasn’t easy. I always try to stay in the present moment and not think too much about the score. Today I managed to do that really well,” Kouame said on court.Kouame did not concede a break of serve throughout the contest as he sealed victory in straight ⁠sets.At 17 years and two months old, Kouame became the youngest player ⁠to win a Grand Slam match since Australia’s Bernard Tomic reached the 2009 Australian Open second round at the age of 16.France’s Moise Kouame celebrates his victory over Croatia’s Marin Cilic at the Roland-Garros [Julien de Rosa/AFP]He is also the youngest player to advance past the first round at Roland Garros since Romania’s Dinu Pescariu achieved the feat ⁠in 1991 at 17 years and one month old.