MONTPELLIER/WASHINGTON, February 4, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
Moise Kouame has become an attention-getter this week at the Open Occitanie in southern France. Just 16, this French teenager from suburban Paris is a boy among men competing in the ATP 250 indoor hard-court event. However, what an impression he’s made so far on the tennis world.
Ranked 552nd and given a qualifying wild card, Kouame earned a berth in the Montpellier main draw after saving a match point against Sweden’s Elias Ymer during a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory on Sunday. Then, he defeated fellow Frenchman Clement Chidekh in a tough three-setter, 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-3, the next day. The fast-rising Kouame became the youngest player to qualify for an ATP Tour event since Rudolf Molleker of Germany, who was also 16 years-old at Hamburg in 2017 – and he’s the sixth-youngest since 2000.
Not missing a beat, the Open Occitanie organizers decided to put Kouame’s first-round match on Court Patrice Dominguez – the main show court – inside the 6,700-seat Sud de France Arena on Wednesday afternoon. Guess what? The young French player helped draw a near-capacity crowd to his ATP Tour main-draw debut on a middle-of-the-week afternoon.
16-years-old.
Moise Kouame is one to watch! #OpenOccitanie26 pic.twitter.com/ucuFODbqxK
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 4, 2026
Kouame, who began the year ranked No. 833, came into his match against No. 8 seed Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States, last year’s finalist, 12-0 across all levels this season. He won a pair of ITF World Tennis Tour titles on home soil at M25 Hazebrouck and M15 Bressuire last month.
Although Kouame lost to Kovacevic, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2, in one hour and 54 minutes, he never gave up. He provided the mostly-French fans with plenty to cheer about.
The French teenager began the match magnificently. He gutted out a 54-minute opening set by winning a tiebreaker 7-5. Kouame garnered 91 percent (20 of 22) of his first-serve points and dropped only five points overall on his serve. He hit 12 winners and outpointed Kovacevic 41-34.
Now, just a set away from the biggest win of his budding career, Kouame found the going tough in the second set as his levels dropped and Kovacevic’s rose. He broke the French teenager’s serve twice to win the set 6-2.
In the decider, Kovacevic broke Kouame to open the set and backed it up for a quick 2-0 lead as the match reached the 90-minute plateau. While Kouame made a match of it for the first hour, the remainder of the first-round encounter showed his youthful inexperience and Kovacevic took advantage of it. Soon, the 27-year-old New Yorker increased his lead to 4-1. Kovacevic finally put away the set 6-2 – and the match was his to celebrate – but not before Kouame saved two match points with a couple of impressive forehand winners.
Kovacevic takes it
The American fights back to beat 16-year-old sensation Kouame 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 #OpenOccitanie26 pic.twitter.com/edeirqK9nF
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 4, 2026
Kouame finished the first-round match with 28 winners – including 10 aces – and won 77 percent (36 of 47) of his first-serve points. He was unable to break Kovacevic’s serve in the only chance he had, which occurred in the final game of the match. His serve was broken four times. Kovacevic, who struck 13 aces and won 82 percent (41 of 50) of his first-serve points, outpointed Kouame 90-78.
During his on-court interview, Kovacevic was asked to describe his first impression of Kouame. “Absolutely nuts! He’s obviously someone who just came onto the Tour. We’re going to be seeing a lot more of him. He’s a talented player. … Amazing player,” he said.
“He was outplaying me in the first set. I didn’t feel super comfortable, first match of the week. And then I got settled in a little bit and I think he dropped his level just a tad. That’s how it went.
“It’s tough to play a player like that, I’ve never really seen him play at all. It was tough but I’m definitely impressed.”
First strike, Kouame
The 16 year old takes the first set on his ATP Tour debut!#OpenOccitanie26 pic.twitter.com/ML39szJrPg
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 4, 2026
A native of Sarcelles, France, just north of Paris, Kouame first picked up a tennis racquet at age six with his older brother, Michael, and has trained at the National Tennis Center in Poitiers, France. He’s the youngest of five children. As Kouame has grown older, the likable Frenchman has become a fan of both Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner as well as football great Lionel Messi.
According to his biography on the ATP Tour website, Kouame enjoys F1 auto racing and golf. He also likes to dabble in hobbies such as playing chess, Skyjo and PlayStation. His favorite TV shows are “Drive to Survive” and “Top Gear,” and his favorite musician is Michael Jackson.
While Kouame didn’t win his ATP Tour main draw debut, there’s plenty to like about his game and his attitude – and there will be better days ahead for him. He never gave up and showed great promise in saving two match points. Kouame walked off Court Patrice Dominguez to enthusiastic applause as he waved to the crowd.
Meanwhile, Kovacevic, who is seeded for just the second time in a tour-level event, will oppose another French qualifier, 150th-ranked Titouan Droguet, in the second round on Thursday. Last week at the Quimper Challenger, Droguet beat Kovacevic, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8).
View this post on Instagram
At 40, Wawrinka is still winning, setting records
Wild card Stan Wawrinka became the oldest man to record a tour-level win indoors outside the Davis Cup since Ken Rosewall at age 45, in 1980 at Melbourne. The 40-year-old Swiss star, who is currently ranked 113th, beat No. 80 Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia, 7-6 (3), 6-4, in an hour and 38 minutes on Court Patrice Dominguez Wednesday afternoon.
Wawrinka has now won his opening match in five of his last six events played – including at the Australian Open last month. Against Medjedovic, who was chasing after his 20th career win indoors, Wawrinka won 83 percent (24 of 29) of his first-serve points, hit 18 winners, saved four of five break points and broke his opponent twice in six tries. Wawrinka outpointed the 22-year-old Serbian 72-69.
STAN IS BACK pic.twitter.com/R8RstoCImv
— Open Occitanie (@OpenOccitanie) February 4, 2026
“It’s always a pleasure to play the young generation,” Wawrinka said in his on-court interview. “I’m happy with the level I played. It’s a pleasure to be back here. Last year, I lost first round. So, it’s great I get another chance to keep playing.”
In the second round on Thursday, Wawrinka will face World No. 8 and top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in a featured evening match.
Stan in straights
The 40-year-old defeats Hamad Medjedovic 7-6 6-4 to set up a second round tie with Felix Auger-Aliassime #OpenOccitanie26 pic.twitter.com/3dDcg7HuzJ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 4, 2026
Around Sud de France Arena
• In an all-French battle Wednesday evening, No. 70 Adrian Mannarino reached his 63rd career ATP Tour quarterfinal – first since 2024 at Chengdu, and fourth in France – with his 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over No. 5 seed Ugo Humbert in two hours and 47 minutes on Court Patrice Dominguez. The 37-year-old Mannarino improved to 7-4 against Top-50 opponents since August, after going 0-6 from January-July last year. He’s put together back-to-back wins this week in Montpellier for the first time since his run to the fourth round at the US Open last summer.
Mannarino, who withstood 23 aces from the 38th-ranked Humbert, saved all nine break points he faced. He outpointed his opponent 117-109.
In Friday’s quarterfinals, Mannarino will play either No. 3 seed Tomas Machac of Czechia, ranked No. 28, or 168th-ranked French wild card Arthur Gea, who played later Wednesday evening.
• American qualifier Martin Damm backed up his opening-round win against 52nd-ranked Hubert Hurkacz with another Top-100 victory – his second in two days. On Wednesday afternoon, the 160th-ranked Damm defeated No. 89 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, 6-1, 6-3, in 55 minutes on Court 1 to advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round. Damm hit 11 aces and won 82 percent (32 of 39) of his total service points, He converted four of seven break points and outpointed Bautista-Agut 57-33.
Next, Damm will face either World No. 20 and second seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy or 106th-ranked Italian Luca Nardi, who play Thursday. Nardi advanced over No. 137 Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, 6-3, 6-3, in 63 minutes on Court 1. Nardi outpointed his opponent 62-41.
La paire Doumbia-Reboul file en 1/4 de finale pic.twitter.com/m9riwFOnyk
— Open Occitanie (@OpenOccitanie) February 4, 2026
• In doubles, there were three matches to complete the first round. Among them, Dutch duo Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp faced Evan King and Reese Stalder of the United States. Van de Zandschulp was part of last year’s champion team, while Griekspoor was a runner-up. Together, they had the right stuff against King and Stalder and won, 7-5, 1-6, 10-7, in 68 minutes on Court 1.
Top seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul of France advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 5-7, 10-6 win over Arjun Kadhe of India and Neil Oberleitner of Austria in one hour and 36 minutes on Court Patrice Dominguez.
Also, in the first doubles quarterfinal, in an all French match-up, Theo Arribage and Albano Olivetti defeated Clement Chidekh and Arthur Reymond, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 10-5, in an hour and 34 minutes on Court 1.
Wednesday’s Open Occitanie results
Thursday’s Open Occitanie order of play
By the numbers
At 16, Moise Kouame of France is the youngest player in the Top 1000 of PIF ATP Rankings. He is ranked No. 552, a career-high ranking he achieved after winning the ITF M15 Bressuire title last month.
“Quotable …”
“Of course, I had fun [on the court]. You have more fun when you win!”
– Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland, during his on-court interview after defeating Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia to advance to the second round. The 40-year-old Wawrinka announced in December that 2026 would be his final year on the ATP Tour before he retires at the end of the season.
View this post on Instagram
