Just over a month after winning his first professional title at the Futures tournament in Hazebrouck, Moïse Kouamé already feels almost at home in the north of France—this time in Lille, about forty kilometers away. On Thursday evening, Kouamé qualified for his first-ever Challenger quarterfinal thanks to a straight-sets victory over Austria’s Joel Schwärzler (20 years old, world No. 246), 6–3, 6–4 in 1 hour and 18 minutes.
The Paris native, who will celebrate his 17th birthday on March 6, continues to set precocity records: he is the only player born in 2009 to have won a match in a Challenger tournament. But what he especially wanted to highlight was the atmosphere created by the northern crowd on Thursday night: “I’m very happy there were so many people supporting me and cheering me on. I hope to see them again in large numbers tomorrow (Friday),” the young Frenchman commented.
He will play his quarterfinal against American Nishesh Basavareddy (20 years old, world No. 192), who came through qualifying. Coached by Frenchman Gilles Cervara (former coach of Daniil Medvedev), Basavareddy has been one of the standout surprises of this Play In Challenger 2026.
Benjamin Bonzi keeps rolling
Building on his run to the final at the Challenger de Pau last week, Benjamin Bonzi (29 years old, world No. 112) comfortably defeated young German Justin Engel (18 years old, world No. 194) in straight sets, 6–2, 6–2, in just 1 hour and 3 minutes.
“It was a tricky match; I had to be ready from the start, and I got into it much better than yesterday (Wednesday). I found my rhythm much more quickly. In the end, it was quite a complete performance and I’m very pleased,” said the player from Nîmes. He will face Belgian Alexander Blockx (20 years old, world No. 104) in the quarterfinals. Blockx knocked out defending champion Arthur Bouquier (25 years old, world No. 358), who had no answers and was logically beaten in straight sets, 6–1, 7–6 (1h12).
The two other quarterfinals will see France’s Titouan Droguet (24 years old, world No. 120) take on Switzerland’s Jérôme Kym (23 years old, world No. 197), who defeated promising Spaniard Martín Landaluce (20 years old, world No. 159) in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3 (1h20). The final quarterfinal will be an all-French clash between Luca Van Assche (21 years old, world No. 130) and Clément Chidekh (24 years old, world No. 205).
