"I'm not going to win 25 Grand Slams being ranked 300 in the world, it's obvious"

Carlos Navarro - 22 Oct 2026 | 13:32
Moise Kouame ATP ATP Lyon 2026

Moise Kouamé clarified his statements about wanting to win 25 Grand Slams and spoke about his adaptation to the circuit, reflecting on what this season has meant for him.

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Kouamé spoke about the pressure and clarified his ambition.

At every tournament he attends, Moise Kouamé is greeted by the spotlight. Despite being only 17 years old, the French player burst onto the circuit like a cyclone at the last Roland Garros; even before that, every significant result brought news and headlines, given the remarkable precocity of a player molded to achieve great things. Still, patience and constant evolution must be the watchwords to avoid overwhelming the Frenchman... although thinking that his goals are small would be to not know who Moise Kouamé is: this was made clear by the Frenchman just a couple of days ago when a clip in which he stated his goal was to break the Grand Slam record went viral.

However, that would only be scratching the surface. Many legends have demonstrated a tremendous ambition from a young age: the first step to achieving great things is undoubtedly to visualize them. Moise does not deny that he dreams big, but at the same time, he reasons and is fully aware that to reach that place, a lot of prior work is needed: "You need results to progress, and I'm not going to win 25 Grand Slams while I'm ranked 300 in the world, that's obvious. A consistent and lasting evolution is the most important thing for me", he indicated in an interview with Univers Tennis, displaying a maturity uncommon for his age.

Kouamé talks about the pressure he faces at such a young age

There are more aspects that define an athlete's career, and the price to pay for shining at such a young age is to bear pressure and expectations that are sometimes excessive. Perhaps no one better to guide him in this task than Richard Gasquet, who already bore the weight of being a future star and suffered greatly watching others surpass him; Moise, however, is determined to only think about his own path... and he already speaks of pressure like a veteran.

"I would say that there has been constant pressure since I started playing tennis well. It's a pressure that I even put on myself, a little, because I want to achieve results, I want to be better than the rest. There is also the pressure from the media and outside. It's there: you have to learn to manage and absorb it", says the Frenchman, who confronted it head-on after his impressive Roland Garros, where he reached the third round and became the great local hope. Does he still feel the echoes of what he achieved, at just 17 years old?

"I didn’t expect so many people to come out to support me. I’m French, so playing at home is always a pleasure. I hoped they would give me energy, and they gave me a lot; they helped me so much throughout the three matches", Moise expressed his gratitude to his audience, who he could not replicate at least those two victories in the current ATP Lyon 2026, where he exited in the second round after losing to Lorenzo Musetti.

There is barely a month and a half left in the season, but Kouamé is clear that there are still viable goals to strive for. One of them could be to compete in (and win) the ATP Next Gen Finals, but the Frenchman is measured and again talks about those intangibles that are so important in his growth, in addition to giving a very leading role to health: "What I ask for most and first is health, it is extremely important not to get injured. Staying fit and being available to play every week, having good weeks of training... from there, in terms of results, I want to win as many matches as possible, continue rising in the NextGen ranking and also in the ATP ranking. Even so, that is currently secondary. The most important thing for me is to improve my serve, improve physically and mentally, improve my tennis so that in a few years I can aspire to win everything". Ambition, but not excessive: the formula for success... or time will tell if, indeed, it is.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, "No voy a ganar 25 Grand Slams siendo el 300 del mundo, es obvio"