ATP Tour

'Pretty insane', qualifier Atmane stuns Rune to set Sinner SF in Cincinnati

World No. 136 Terence Atmane fears no opponent.

One day after toppling Taylor Fritz, the French qualifier upset another Top 10 star, Holger Rune, to extend his dream run at the Cincinnati Open.

The lefty earned a 6-2, 6-3 victory Thursday evening to reach his maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final and set a showdown with World No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner.

“I don’t think any words can describe how I feel right now,” Atmane said. “It’s pretty insane to be honest. I cannot believe it. Being here in the semi-finals of a Masters 1000, breaking into the Top 100 and even more with the win tonight — it’s also a lot of money for me, so it’s going to be very helpful for my career. It means a lot to me. I’m very emotional about it.”

Atmane punished the ball with his forehand, firing 14 winners from that wing, and showcased his all-court athleticism, gliding effortlessly across the court en route to a convincing one-hour, 13-minute win. The 23-year-old entered the tournament with a 1-4 tour-level record for the season and is now up 67 places to No. 69 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, setting him up for a new career high.

“I couldn’t really sleep last night with the win against Taylor,” Atmane said. “I was just trying to be myself on court, trying to enjoy it as much as I can because I have nothing to lose, that’s the advantage I have of being the underdog here coming from the qualies. I think this is going to give me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year and in my career in general.”

By reaching the last four, Atmane has earned $332,160 in prize money. He entered the tournament with $310,376 for the season.

Atmane rarely allowed the seventh-seed Rune any chances on return, dropping just five points behind his first serve (28/33), according to Infosys ATP Stats. He created 11 break chances of his own, converting seven, to become the first Frenchman to reach the Cincinnati semi-finals since Richard Gasquet in 2019. Atmane is the eighth lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 semi-finalist in series history.