|
Just a day after Gael Monfils exited in the first round of the French Open, France's young athlete Moise Kouame shocked the former world number three Marin Cilic to become the youngest player to win a main draw match at the competition since 2001.
Kouame, 17, scripted history, beating the 2022 French Open semifinalist 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-1, and the 318-ranked announced his arrival to the grandest stage in style. He is also the first man born in 2008 or later to contest a main-draw Grand Slam match, as per ATP's official website. During the course of the match, he converted four of seven break points earned against 37-year-old Cilic. He was icy cool in his composure under the baking sun at the court, becoming the youngest man to win a main-draw match at Roland Garros since Dinu Pescariu in 1991, and the youngest at any Grand Slam since then-16-year-old Bernard Tomic at the 2009 Australian Open. In March, the 17-year-old secured a wild-card entry to the Miami Open and defeated Zachary Svajda, becoming the youngest match winner in the history of a hard-court tournament ATP Masters 1000 event, which earned him a congratulations from 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. In April, the teenager also was a wild card at the Monte Carlo Masters and got to practice with rising superstar Janni Sinner. His next clash will be against Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, who beat the 20th seed Cameron Norrie. Adam Walton produced a major upset, stunning world number eight Danil Medvedev. The world number 97 beat Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 after rallying from 2-4 in the decider and clinched his first-ever win against a top-10 opponent. The 27-year-old Aussie had also shocked Medvedev last year at the Cincinnati Open and saved 16 of 21 break points he faced during a back-and-fourth encounter. "I am pretty tired right now," Walton said after the match. "It was such an up-and-down match. I got off to a hot start, and I felt like the ebbs and flows of the match were quite large today. I am just really proud of my efforts in the fifth set, to come from a break down to get the win," he said. "I felt he was playing pretty well," said Walton, on being asked about dropping serve for 1-2 in the fifth set. "He was making a lot of first serves, and he was liking my ball. I knew I just had to hang tough. I thought the game at 1-3, I faced some break points there, and if I go down 1-4 with a double break, it is going to be pretty tough from there. So getting that hold and keeping the score close, I knew if I just kept fighting, maybe I would get a chance. I am glad I did," he added. Walton goes up 2-1 against Medvedev head-to-head and will play Zachary Svajda next. (ANI)
|
