Soon after the stunning loss of Jannik Sinner on Thursday came a hometown triumph. Moïse Kouamé, the 17-year-old Frenchman, advanced to the third round at Roland-Garros after defeating Adolfo Daniel Vallejo in a near five-hour match.
The win guarantees Kouamé will take home nearly $220,000 in winnings (€187,000), already more than his career earnings of $175,637. But soon after the win, reports began to surface that Kouamé may not be able to collect his winnings.
“He can’t even collect his winnings cause he’s not 18 yet,” Mike Hayden, the producer of the Served podcast with Andy Roddick, said Thursday. “There’s a French law that you can’t collect the prize money until you turn 18.”
“He better be getting a fucking interest rate while the government keeps that bag,” Roddick said.
Kouamé’s agent, Daryl Monfils, who is also the brother of French tennis veteran Gaël Monfils, described the report as “wrong information” in an email to Front Office Sports. Monfils did not provide additional explanation as to where exactly Kouamé’s prize money will go.
