French Open Day 5 recap: Moïse Kouame thrills again in statement comeback win
Sports

French Open Day 5 recap: Moïse Kouame thrills again in statement comeback win

Economy World


Follow The Athletic’s French Open coverage

Welcome to the French Open briefing, where The Athletic explains the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament.

On Day 5, a local favorite kept a dream run going, one player had his racket stolen and on a day of men’s chaos, the women’s seeds said, “No.”

How did the Parisian fan favorite stay cool?

Moïse Kouame’s knees buckled. He dropped to the floor and lay flat on his back in the shape of a star. The 17-year-old put his hands over his eyes. He thought he was dreaming.

The umpire’s reading of the score, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(8) over Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, was barely audible as the French crowd inside Court Suzanne-Lenglen erupted. Kouame, the back of his shirt and black hair stained in red clay, raised his arms to the sky, once again covering his eyes in disbelief. He beat his heart with his fist and screamed at the floor, letting out a guttural roar.

At 17 years, two months and 22 days old, Kouame became the youngest player to reach a men’s singles Grand Slam third round since a certain Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2003.

A native of Sarcelles, a northern banlieue of Paris, Kouame raced to a two-set lead but was pegged back to two sets all. After such a shift in momentum, many teenagers would have faded. Not Kouame.

Then he trailed 5-3, down a break of serve in the fifth set. Many teenagers would have lost. Not Kouame.

Then he led 6-1 in the deciding tiebreak, before losing six consecutive points. Did he crumble? Not Kouame.

He kept one phrase, inspired by Carlos Alcaraz, in his head: “Never stop believing.”

Never before had he played in front of 10,000 fans, never before had he played a match of four hours and 56 minutes, and yet, when he was physically and mentally exhausted, Kouame’s match and crowd management showed maturity beyond his years. He became a showman, pulling out his signature celebration, placing one finger to his ear, the other arm outstretched. He produced stunning shots in tight moments, like this backhand pass two points from defeat:

“I’m really trying to understand when is the right moment to feel the most energy the crowd is giving me,” the Frenchman said, speaking with ease in front of a packed news conference room.

No moment was bigger than at 8-8 in the fifth-set tiebreak, when Kouame displayed precocious shot selection. He chose to play a passing forehand shot, which he placed, as opposed to going for a winner, forcing Vallejo into an error. Then on match point, he opted to serve and volley, executing with efficiency.

“On big points you always try to put the ball in the court and win it,” Kouame said. “I’ve put a lot of hours of training into that.”

It is common for junior players to have lapses of concentration and intensity. Kouame, who does not work with a sports psychologist but has former world No. 7 Richard Gasquet on his coaching team, has been working on discipline and focus for the past month.

“It’s highly impressive,” said Liam Smith, another of his coaches, in a news conference. “It’s unusual for a young player of this age, in this kind of an arena, to be able to do that.”

What matters most to Kouame, however, is having fun on court. “People are here to watch the show,” he said. “Not to win the tournament.”

But Kouame still dreams of winning Roland Garros, all four Grand Slams and becoming world No. 1 one day. “The longest journey always starts with the first step,” he said. “I hope there will be more steps to come.”

Charlotte Harpur 

How did the top women’s seeds hold the line?

The men’s tournament officially became a free-for-all Thursday, after Jannik Sinner went out in the second round. He followed out two top-eight seeds who lost in the first round, Daniil Medvedev (8) and Taylor Fritz (7). Then No. 6 seed Ben Shelton followed Sinner, losing to Belgium’s Raphaël Collignon in three sets to end play on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

The women’s seeds, on the other hand, held the line. Defending champion and No. 4 seed Coco Gauff mostly cruised, even though she struggled to hold serve at moments, beating qualifier Mayar Sherif of Egypt 6-3, 6-2. Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed and last year’s beaten finalist, played a tight first set against Elsa Jacquemot of France, but ran away in the second to prevail 7-5, 6-2.

Amanda Anisimova (6) benefited from Julia Grabher retiring due to illness after the American won the first set 6-0, while Victoria Mboko (9) survived a close encounter with the Czech Republic’s Kateřina Siniaková, prevailing 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

In all, eight of the top 10 women’s seeds have made it to the third round, a reasonably high number given the unpredictability and depth of women’s tennis. On Friday, Iga Świątek, Mirra Andreeva, Elina Svitolina and Karolina Muchová will try to keep the roll going at the top of the ladder.

— Matt Futterman

How did Frances Tiafoe find his lost racket?

Frances Tiafoe had his racket taken out of his hand Thursday — literally.

After his 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-4 win over Hubert Hurkacz that stretched nearly five hours, the No. 19 seed ran to the side of the court to celebrate by hugging the fans sitting courtside on Court 14. The American didn’t realize he’d lost his racket in the exuberant fray until he turned and walked back to the net to shake Hurkacz and the umpire’s hand.

“Both my hands were getting locked in, right, so I’m like, ‘OK.’ After a while there, I’m like, ‘All right, man, all right, guys, I’ve gotta get out of this.’ … I mean, they were locking me in. I thought I was going to fall into the crowd at one point. But it was fun, it was a cool moment,” Tiafoe said with a wide grin in his news conference

He paused.

“But I actually need that racket.”

He posted an Instagram Story asking for his equipment back, and by the time he’d come in for his press conference, he’d already agreed to give the lucky fan who ended up with the racket a pair of shoes as a sign of goodwill.

“In the States, I’m not getting the racket,” Tiafoe said, laughing, “but here, I was, like … I feel like in Europe, they love tennis so much, I think I’m gonna get it.”

— Ava Wallace

How did Francisco Cerúndolo find out his brother beat Jannik Sinner?

The racket incident wasn’t the only fan encounter Frances Tiafoe had at his match. He was one of several players in action when Sinner was upset by Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, and learned the news from an overly-excited supporter.

“‘Sinner is out and Big Foe is in!’” Tiafoe said, imitating the fan. “I’m, like, dying laughing. …I’m trying to keep it together.

“They don’t know what — I’ve got to handle this right here. It was a funny moment. So that’s how I found out. He said it repeatedly, for three minutes straight. It was insane.”

Francisco Cerúndolo, brother of Juan Manuel, can relate. His family decided they’d handle the day by splitting their time since the brothers’ matches overlapped, first sitting on Court Philippe-Chatrier then heading over to Court Simonne-Mathieu when Sinner and Cerúndolo were finished.

When Francisco began his match, his brother was down a set and 4-1. He looked up after playing two sets, his family still wasn’t there.

By the time he was in the fourth set of his 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 win over Hugo Gaston, the yelling from the stands began.

“People started screaming to me, Your brother is winning, your brother is winning, keep going!

I was, like, come on, boys, stop talking to me, because I’m playing the fourth set, I am super-stressed here. People started saying, ‘Your brother won, your brother won.’” Cerúndolo said in a news conference.

Cerúndolo pulled through a challenging fourth set, able to focus thanks to one thought in his mind.

“If he wins, I have to win.”

A nice assist, from one brother to another.

— Ava Wallace

Other notable results on Day 5:

  • Rising Spanish talent Martín Landaluce came from two sets down to beat Vít Kopřiva of the Czech Republic 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-0.
  • Naomi Osaka (16) did her talking with her tennis as well as her clothes once again, knocking out 2024 Paris Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekić 7-6(1), 6-4.
  • Learner Tien (18) joined Tiafoe in winning a five-set thriller, triumphing over Facundo Diaz Acosta, the Argentine qualifier, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3.

Shot of the day

Nice rally, Victoria Mboko and Kateřina Siniaková. Would be a shame if a pigeon interrupted it. But that would never happen, would it …

Drop Shots

🇨🇦 Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime climbed back up the tennis mountain. He wants to stay there this time.

🌀 Iva Jović’s controlled aggressiveness is making the 18-year-old American a rising star. She’s learning it from the best: Novak Djokovic.

👗 Naomi Osaka’s couture French Open fit got an update — and it was another banger.

🫠 Jannik Sinner appears to have a heat problem. Does tennis have a bigger one?

❓And who is actually going to win this thing?

Up next: Third round

🎾 Women’s singles: Magda Linette vs. Iga Świątek (3)

5 a.m. ET on TNT, HBO Max

When these two met at the Miami Open in March, Iga Świątek was so demoralized by losing to Magda Linette that she parted ways with her coach Wim Fissette and said she was experiencing “the worst nightmare a tennis player can have.”

Świątek has a shot at redemption in this all-Polish clash. And she comes into the match in much better shape, her forehand starting to fire and the reworked serve a bit more settled.

Linette, a former Australian Open semifinalist currently ranked No. 73, took out former French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko in the last round and has shown she can make life difficult for Świątek.But beating a four-time French Open champion in perfect conditions for her game is a tall task.

🎾 Men’s singles: João Fonseca (28) vs. Novak Djokovic (3)

Not before 9:30 a.m. ET on TNT, HBO Max

One of the most exciting young talents in the sport against the grandmaster.

Fonseca, a 19-year-old from Brazil, possesses phenomenal power and is considered a future Grand Slam champion in waiting. Serbia’s Djokovic is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam title, and is doing so with neither Carlos Alcaraz nor Jannik Sinner in the draw.

It’s a huge opportunity, but this will not be an easy match against a player who will have vociferous crowd support from the Brazilians in attendance and has the power to take the match away from Djokovic.

🎾 Men’s singles: Casper Ruud (15) vs. Tommy Paul (24)

Not before 9:30 a.m. ET on TNT, HBO Max

For a player a few days out from managing heat illness during a five-set slog, Tommy Paul is a nightmare opponent.

The American is one of the fittest, most athletic players on the tour, and that’s who Casper Ruud who will be up against four days after saying he was like “a zombie” during his five-set win over Roman Safiullin.

Norway’s Ruud did at least enjoy a more comfortable win against Hamad Medjedovic Wednesday, but Paul’s main tactic may well be to try and take his opponent’s legs away.

🎾 Women’s singles: Peyton Stearns vs. Belinda Bencic (11)

2 p.m. ET on TNT

Belinda Bencic, a former Olympic champion for Switzerland and one-time world No. 4, has typically struggled to produce her best form at the Slams. Particularly at the French Open, where she’s never even reached the fourth round.

Could this year be different? She’ll be the favorite against Peyton Stearns of the U.S. whose best result on clay to date saw her reach the semifinals of the Italian Open, a WTA 1000 event the rung below the majors, last year.

Stearns has the greater weight of shot, but Bencic will hope her superior court craft will make the difference.

French Open women’s draw 2026

French Open men’s draw 2026

Tell us what you noticed on the fifth day…



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *