Swing big, dream big.
That seems to be the motto of Terence Atmane, the explosive, fast-rising Frenchman known for his love of Pokémon and magic tricks.
Having tasted the big-match atmosphere of playing then-World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the Cincinnati Open semi-finals in August, the prospect of a re-match with the Italian was his inspiration during a three-week training block in the Dubai heat ahead of the Asian swing.
The 23-year-old left-hander didn’t need to wait long.
After an opening-round loss to Dino Prizmic in Chengdu, Atmane confronted Sinner in the second round of the China Open in Beijing, claiming the second set before the four-time Grand Slam champion pulled away for a 6-4, 5-7, 6-0 win.
“Honestly, I was thinking about it all the time when I was practising in Dubai before coming to Asia, thinking about what I have to do on court to get closer to him every single day,” Atmane told ATPTour.com in Shanghai. “And the match [in Beijing] showed me that I can win a set, but at the same time, I'm not ready at all to be able to beat him in three.
“It showed me I'm doing the right things because I've done a better result than the last time [a 7-6(4), 6-2 loss in Cincinnati]. It’s very important to keep in mind that, for me, nobody is unbeatable, although there is a lot of work to do if I want to be able to beat him.”
Life has changed a lot in the past two months for Atmane, who spent the majority of 2025 playing qualifying and ATP Challenger Tour events. His breakthrough in Cincinnati – where he defeated Top 10 duo Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune and Next Gen ATP Finals champion Joao Fonseca en route to the quarter-finals - slashed his PIF ATP Ranking from 136 to 69 and the $332,000 cheque doubled his 2025 earnings.
Disappointed to miss the US Open with a foot injury, Atmane was happy to make his comeback in Asia, where he enjoyed success earlier in the year, winning Challenger titles in Busan, South Korea, and Guangzhou, China.
But a steady progression up the rankings – with the Top 50 seemingly the next milestone – isn’t what drives the Frenchman. With a ‘go-big-or-go-home’ mentality, it’s big matches with the likes of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz [whom he has not yet played] that get his juices flowing.
“It's important to raise the bar, super high,” he said. “I’m not focused on trying to be Top 50, Top 40, Top 30. All I want to do is become a better player and a better person every single day.
“In Cincinnati, I beat Taylor and Holger. I know that they are better than me, but I can beat them. Jannik, he's better than me, but for now, I cannot beat him. And this is exactly why I was so motivated to play him again.
“First of all, I wanted to prove to myself that I was able to put a dot on the first stage, of winning a set against him. Now the next stage is going to be winning two sets, but it will take time, of course.
“But I keep giving it my best, because it’s definitely my objective one day to beat players like Jannik and Carlos. That's pretty much the only objective that I have in mind.”
Known for his wicked lefty serve and destructive forehand, Atmane said that his high-octane game was inspired by former Chilean World No. 5 Fernando Gonzalez. Although the duo has never met, they recently began exchanging messages over Instagram.
“It seems pretty random that he would have been my favourite player, but growing up I loved to watch him play,” Atmane said. “He seemed to bring so much explosiveness every time he played; the forehand was going huge all the time. I really liked that and tried to copy him a little bit when I was younger. Even now I'm still watching his matches, like, every time I have some free moments.”
Appearing as a direct acceptance into the main draw of an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time, Atmane will play Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli in the first round of the Rolex Shanghai Masters Thursday, with the winner to play World No. 7 Alex de Minaur in the second round.
