From Brest Heroics to Tunisian Heat: Top Seed Kouamé is Victorious in Monastir Opener

Moise Kouame's exploits in Brest will be something he will likely never forget but potentially this could be a week he remembers for the sole reason that he is the top seed of a professional event for the very first time. He started things off with an opening round win over Latvia's Robert Strombachs 6-3, 6-4. Potentially, he is four wins away from a second title, perhaps? Here is how Kouame performed in his first round match.

Strombachs came out with the intention to blast through Kouame's defences instantly

Kouame led by a quick-fire break advantage, but the danger signs were there that the Latvian was going to try and take charge of proceedings. His brand of tennis really was exciting in terms of playing close to both sidelines and trying to overpower the youngster with short/sharp sequences. In the above clip, the Latvian does not hesitate on anything where he is afforded some time.

The Sudden Turning Point Arrives when Strombachs' Fine-Line Tennis Backfires

The first question going through my mind was whether Strombachs could maintain the premium level of ball speed from the ground and whether he had the level of consistency to keep it going. The answer was a resounding no as Kouame started to build more pressure on return in the eighth game of the first set.

You can see in the above video that his power is decreasing as the length of the rally extends. He is in Kouame's grasps now. Kouame gradually makes sure his elite defensive qualities are the overriding factor in this matchup. The Latvian was always playing fine-line tennis so maintaining that extremely high level of aggression, while reining in the errors did not feel sustainable in a match against one of the best defenders on the Challenger circuit at present.

The Latvian proceeds to double fault to go 0-40 down and then commits an exhausted backhand cross-court wide of the sideline to go 3-5* down. Kouame ends up winning the set quite comfortably following this.

Kouame builds confidence and starts expressing himself in the second. Longer the rallies, better the Kouame

The task that was quite hard for Strombachs suddenly became a mountain to climb. The rallies got longer and his ability to hit through Moise was so much more challenging. The 17-year-old began expressing himself with confidence increasingly with points like this:

To Strombachs' credit, he kept charging the net loads, but there was more danger attached to this play in the second set. It often led to Kouame's eyes widening as he had a target to aim for from defensive positions or to utilise his lovely feel in back-and-forth points in the forecourt. The first video shows Kouame creep to within two games away of the win with another electric defensive pass.

It was closing time for Kouame from then on as he put the finishing touches on a good performance.

Looking Ahead

Kouame has the capability and the quality of going all the way this week based on the strength of the field in Monastir. I am just quite curious as to where Kouame's motivations will lie. He has the Next Gen Finals event on the horizon and surely that takes full priority, which makes me question how ambitious he will be this week. I would not put it past him to conquer both, but it will be something to keep in mind throughout the course of this week in Monastir.