“Nothing I regret”: Kouame, 17, enjoys his Paris debut despite Borges defeat

The 17-year-old French wildcard, champion in Brest on Sunday, lost 6-3, 6-1 to lucky loser Nuno Borges and missed the chance to beat Michael Chang’s 1989 record as the youngest match winner in Paris. Borges faces Karen Khachanov next.

3 November 2026

Cédric Rouquette

Reporting from Paris - La Défense

Moïse Kouamé, Rolex Paris Masters 2026 | © Ch. Caillaud / PsNewe

Rolex Paris Masters •Second round • Completed

See draw

N. BorgesvsM. Kouame

Lucky loser Nuno Borges of Portugal ended Moise Kouame’s bid to become the youngest match winner in the history of the Rolex Paris Masters, beating the 17-year-old French wildcard 6-3, 6-1 in 1 hour 4 minutes in the first round on Tuesday. Borges, ranked No. 49, will face Karen Khachanov in the second round.

“Being able to play on this Centre Court so early was really something special for me. I come out of this match having grown a lot,” Kouame said. “It wasn’t more intimidating than playing on the Lenglen.”

At 17 years and 7 months, Kouame would have beaten the tournament record of Michael Chang, who won his first match in Paris in 1989 at 17 years and 8 months, according to the ATP.

Kouame had been due to face 13th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who withdrew with a back problem on Tuesday. Borges took his place after losing to Alex Molcan 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the final round of qualifying.

“It didn’t bother me at all. We still had time to prepare the strategy,” Kouame said of the late change of opponent. “Nuno played at a very impressive level. Congratulations to him.”

How Borges broke Kouame four times on Court Central

Kouame held his first two service games before Borges broke him for 3-2 in the opening set. The Frenchman saved three break points to hold for 3-4, but Borges broke again on his first set point to take the set 6-3.

“The ball was going very fast. Unfortunately I couldn’t hold out for very long,” Kouame said. “He really managed to counter me in every part of the game: on serve, on return, with his very low backhands down the line, his attacking forehands. There really wasn’t much room for me.”

The Portuguese broke twice more to lead 4-0 in the second set, saving the only two break points he faced in the next game. Kouame held to love for 1-5, and Borges served out the match to love.

“I didn’t come with a result in mind. Above all I wanted to enjoy my first time here at La Défense, and it worked out pretty well,” he said. “I tried a tweener that didn’t miss by much. I really managed to find that enjoyment today, and I think that’s the most important thing.”

Borges held all eight of his service games and converted four of his nine break points. Kouame hit six aces but made three double faults and 24 unforced errors.

“There’s nothing I regret in this match. I fought, I still enjoyed it, and the crowd was right behind me,” Kouame said.

Kouame’s Paris debut comes two days after his Brest title

The Frenchman won his first Challenger title in Brest on Sunday, beating Martin Damm 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), and rose to a career-high No. 132 in the rankings on Monday.

“It’s true that the travel didn’t help. I won my title two days ago and played again on a completely different surface. It was a bit hard to adapt,” he said. “But I’m not blaming that at all: Nuno was simply better. When you play a match, nobody looks at how much preparation time you had, they look at whether you win or lose. Today my level wasn’t enough to trouble Nuno.”

This season, he reached the third round at Roland-Garros, where Alejandro Tabilo beat him in four sets, and the last 16 in Lyon after beating Lorenzo Sonego.

Borges, who won his only ATP title in Bastad in 2024 by beating Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 in the final, had beaten Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the first round of qualifying.

Khachanov, the 2018 champion in Paris, reached the second round on Monday when Denis Shapovalov retired 6-3, 6-7 (6), 1-4.