Terence Atmane
Five things to know about Terence Atmane
Learn more about the 23-year-old Frenchman, who is into the SFs in Cincinnati
August 15, 2025
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Terence Atmane is up to No. 69 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and is set to crack the Top 100 for the first time.
By Sam Jacot
French qualifier Terence Atmane is turning heads this week at the Cincinnati Open, where he has soared to the semi-finals in Ohio. The 23-year-old will aim to spring his biggest upset yet in the semi-finals on Saturday when he takes on World No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
Ahead of the clash, ATPTour.com looks at five things to know about the lefty.
Cincinnati: A career breakthrough
Before his run to the semi-finals in Cincinnati, the Frenchman had never been beyond the third round at a tour-level event and had never earned a Top 10 win. Playing with a sense of freedom this week after coming through qualifying, Atmane has stunned the tennis world by defeating World No. 4 Taylor Fritz and World No. 9 Holger Rune to set up a semi-final showdown with Jannik Sinner.
With his impressive rise, Atmane has climbed 67 places to No. 69 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, setting him up for a new career high. By reaching the last four, Atmane has also earned $332,160 in prize money. He entered the tournament with $310,376 for the season.
Pokemon passion
Off court, Atmane owns a lifelong Pokémon card collection, which he started in 2007. The 23-year-old spent more than two years tracking down some of his most exclusive cards, with his favourite card the ‘Kyogre ex’ from the 2007 Crystal Guardians set.
“When I was a little kid, I was watching Pokémon on TV. It came pretty naturally, at school and everything, people were talking about these Pokémon cards and it was pretty famous in the world at that time,” Atmane told ATPTour.com in 2023. “I remember I was playing with my friends in school and then somehow I started collecting this when I was a little boy. And this little boy still has his collection from that time.”
Video games provided a route into tennis
A big fan of video games, Atmane’s first foray into tennis is thanks to that passion. The lefty started playing the sport at age seven, thanks to the PlayStation game Virtua Tennis and Wii Sports.
“I was playing all day every day. One day my mum came back home and she said, ‘Okay, enough of video games, I’m going to buy you a tennis racquet and then let’s go to a tennis club and try,’” Atmane said. “Since then, I’ve never stopped playing tennis.”
He is nicknamed ‘The Magician’ & owns three cats
The 23-year-old enjoys spending time with his three cats and practicing magic tricks when he is not competing, specialising in sleight-of-hand card tricks. Atmane is not the only Frenchman on Tour who enjoys magic, with Gael Monfils magic mad…
Challenger Tour success
Atmane has produced some of his best tennis on the ATP Challenger Tour. The lefty, whose idol is Fernando Gonzalez, won titles on hard courts at events in Busan and Guangzhou earlier this year and has captured a total of four titles at the level in his career.
*Reporting contribution from Grant Thompson