PuraVida Sports

Roland Garros

The future of tennis is unfolding at the 2026 French Open on the famous clay courts of Roland Garros. Exit Gael Monfils, enter Moise Kouame. Exit Gustavo Kuerten, enter Joao Fonseca.

As the steady Roland Garros production line maintained its tradition of baking new stars, France, and the world, this week celebrated the arrival of two exciting teenage sensations: France’s 17-year-old Kouame and Brazil’s 18-year-old Fonseca.

On Friday, the Brazilian took four hours and 53 minutes to register a shock five-set (4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5) win over Serbia’s 24-time Grand Slam winner and three-time French Open champion Novak Djokovic, the victory coming hot on the heels of Kouame having become the youngest winner of a Grand Slam in 17 years with his stunning 6-3 7-5 6-3 6-2 6-6 (10-8) upset over Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo in Round One on Thursday.

Development of the game

And as history was being made on Roland Garros’ famous Court Philippe-Chatrier, in a boardroom just next door, Kenyan tennis was launching an exciting chapter of her own, signing a partnership with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) to support the development of the Kenyan game.

As Djokovic and Fonseca warmed up for their centre court adventure, Tennis Kenya President Wanjiru Mbugua-Karani was in the bowels of the famous stadium signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with FFT President Gilles Moretton.

The ceremony was also attended by Kenya’s Ambassador to France, Betty Cherwon, and Evans Achoki, the Administrative Secretary in Kenya’s Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports.

“It has been a pleasure to meet and discuss our prospective strategic partnership and collaborative working arrangement between the Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT) and Tennis Kenya,” said Moretton, a former doubles specialist who was once ranked number 55 in the world. 

“This collaboration is envisioned as a long-term partnership between France and Kenya, creating mutual value for both federations and their broader tennis ecosystems,” he added.

The highlights of the MoU include creating a Junior High-Performance Pathway for players aged 18 and under, Clay-Court Infrastructure and Technical Exchange, Junior Development Pathway (for player aged 14 years and under) and a Reciprocal Junior Competition Exchange.

Other highlights of the MoU are Coach Education and Capacity Building, Officiating Development, Club Development and Governance alongside Leadership Federation Management.

“Today I felt very proud. This MoU with the FFT is a big step for us at Tennis Kenya and a beautiful example of what is possible when we knock on doors and build genuine relationships,” Mbugua-Karani reacted.

Creating opportunities

“Our vision is simple – to create opportunities for our players, coaches, officials and clubs to grow, compete and believe that they belong anywhere in the world.”

The quick wins of the MoU include improved international exposure and competitive readiness for players and coaches, practical transfer of clay-court expertise adapted for Kenyan clubs and counties and strengthened junior development pathways.

Also present to witness the historic signing of the MoU at Roland Garros were Lionel Ollinger, Deputy President of the FFT, Nathalie Dechy of the FFT’s International Relations Department, Francis Mutuku, Council Member and Past President, Tennis Kenya and Lynette Lokuruka, the First Secretary at the Embassy of Kenya in France.

Others in attendance were Daniel Chirchir, Kenya Team Liaison in France, Jack Munywoki of the Department of Sports, Stéphane Renaud-Bezot, the President of Istres Sport Tennis and Lucas Durand, the Conseiller Municipal representing the Mayor of Istres.

The delegation later watched the match between Fonseca and Djokovic that turned out to be another piece of Roland Garros drama, with Fonseca following in the footsteps of his fellow Brazilian, the legendary clay court specialist Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten, a three-time winner (1997, 2000 and 2001) at Roland Garros who became a national icon and also the only Brazilian to reach the Number One ranking in the history of the world tennis rankings.

Deeper institutional collaboration

In the Roland Garros MoU, Kenyan tennis will also benefit from enhanced technical capacity of coaches, a deeper institutional collaboration and sustained long-term partnership between the two federations.

The MoU guarantees Kenya Coach Education and Capacity Building with coaching seminars and academy visits delivered during ITF junior events in Kenya for Zone IV regional coaches from October to November this year.

Tennis Kenya’s officials will also benefit from referees’ internship and observational placements at Roland-Garros and/or selected French national tournaments with dates to be confirmed.

On Club Development and Governance Exchange, exposure and learning visits for club chairpersons and team captains will be arranged, focused on the French club system which is recognised as one of the most structured and successful tennis development models globally.

Reciprocal exchange programmes focused on governance, administration, and strategic management, will take place in both Kenya and France on dates to be confirmed with the FFT or its partners facilitating programme optimisation, local accommodation and internal transport logistics, while Tennis Kenya may arrange international air travel. 

Other wins for Tennis Kenya include junior development pathways that feature training and participation in ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors J200 events in France implemented through a twinning programme with Club Istres which was already initiated in March–April this year.

Exchange programme at Istres

While Tennis Kenya’s 14 and under players will benefit from an international summer training and competition tour in July this year, a reciprocal Junior Competition Exchange will see the participation of French junior players in ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors J60/J100 events hosted in Kenya from October to November this year.

The signing of the MoU comes just a couple of days after Mbugua-Karani visited the City of Istres in Southern France where she met the mayor, Robin Prétot, to launch an exchange programme between the elite Istres Sport Tennis Club and Tennis Kenya that will see players from both countries train together and play against one another in reciprocal visits.