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Moise Kouame, 17, wins his first Challenger title in Brest
Moise Kouame beat Martin Damm 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 in Sunday’s Brest final to claim, at 17, his first Challenger title. On Monday morning the Frenchman steps into the Rolex Paris Masters against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
by Camille Vasseur · 1 min read
It took two tie-breaks for Moise Kouame to lift a first Challenger trophy. On Sunday evening in Brest, the 17-year-old Frenchman beat Martin Damm of the United States, the world No. 105, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4). RMC Sport singled out his composure in the deciding tie-break.
The rankings jump follows the trophy: 176th in the world before the tournament, Kouame will stand 132nd on Monday, a career high. At his age only Rafael Nadal (41st) and Roger Federer (123rd) had been ranked higher, RMC Sport recalls, and Federer himself won in Brest, in 1999.
From the Brest final to the Paris main draw
“It’s a tournament I really dreamed of playing,” he told Ouest France on Sunday, as relayed by We Love Tennis. Invited to the Rolex Paris Masters (November 2-8) through a wild card reallocated after Jakub Mensik’s withdrawal, according to We Love Tennis, he enters the Paris main draw on Monday. His first-round opponent, on Monday morning on Parisian indoor hard: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the Shanghai Masters 1000 champion of a fortnight ago.
What Brest changes for the bettor
His Brest week has already moved his price: Kouame’s win trades at 3.30 this Sunday at Betway, from 3.56 at the opening. At 1.34 with 1xbet, the market leaves Davidovich Fokina about 70 per cent.
The rest is down to the calendar. Kouame leaves Brest with 93 games played in seven days, final included, and a first round set for the next morning, against a player now two weeks without a match. We go through the match and its markets in our Paris first-round preview. 18+. Only bet what you can afford to lose.