Moise Kouame is remaining focused despite creating Roland Garros history after his 7-6(4) 6-2 6-1 victory over Marin Cilic.
The 17 year-old Frenchman became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam match for 17 years and youngest since 1991 at Roland Garros.
It was a dominant, fearless and sensational performance from Kouame who only turned 17 last month.
After the match Kouame acknowledged the achievement but is remaining focused on the task ahead of him, “Yeah, well, is a good achievement, I would say. But, yeah, first of all, I’m really happy the level that I produced today,” Kouame said in his post-match press conference.
“Yeah, I’m of course looking for more. All the practice worked, I want to say. After all, I’m 17, and I have won one Grand Slam match. I don’t think that my opponent today thought, oh, he’s 17. He was trying to play his best, and same for me. I didn’t care about his age. I just wanted to give him shots that were as complicated to play as possible.
“So for some, the age factor may play a role, but as far as I’m concerned, I tried to focus, not to think about it, because in the end, when you’re on court, you don’t think about your age or what you’re going to eat. You think about what you have to do to win.
“Of course the most important is ahead. So now the head is focused on recovering and be ready as much as possible for the next round.”
The Frenchman looked so composed and confident in what he wanted to do and was energized by the crowd.
After the match Kouame spoke about the influence of the crowd and admitted that competing in Miami helped prepare for him the match today, “Well, of course it gives a lot of energy, positive energy, on difficult moments, stressful moments. Having the crowd with me is really helpful, of course. They really helped me getting the breaks, getting the set. So I’m really thankful for that,” Kouame acknowledged.
“Well, Miami I think kind of helped me, in a way, because playing a 1000 is a big tournament, as well. Last year where I did the quallies of course helped me. I kind of knew the atmosphere that I was about to have or to hear on court. Yeah, Roland Garros, Miami, Monte-Carlo, was I think important tournaments to play to require a certain amount of experience. Yeah, today it really worked, so I’m really happy of the choices we made together.
“Well, training. I knew that I put a lot of hours into training, so the tactic also was clear coming up on the match. Yeah, I mean, if I played and then I lose, then it’s okay. I have other tournaments. Yeah, obviously playing a former Grand Slam champion also maybe in a way, relaxed me. I knew that he was going to be a big match, a good match.
“So, yeah, I knew that also I had the team behind me supporting me. I had the crowd, different crowd. Yeah, a lot of elements contributed to relax me. Yeah, this is what happened, so we’re happy.”
Kouame has clearly been enjoying his tennis and has had many inspirations along the way to help inspire his tennis.
One of his favourite tennis players is actually Petra Kvitova and Kouame explained why that is, “I mean, I just love the way she was playing, very aggressive, without fear, and I think she’s a big player, you know. Her career is just unbelievable,” Kouame stated.
“So, yeah, I was just really, it was really satisfying to watch her play tennis. So, yeah, that’s why she’s my favorite tennis player, woman tennis player.”
Kouame will now face Adolfo Daniel Vallejo for a place in the third round on Thursday.
