Jannik Sinner's semi-final match at the 2025
Cincinnati Open was special in many ways. He even received a gift from his opponent before their meeting.
The three highest-ranked players on the
ATP Tour made it to the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati. The fourth one? Terence Atmane ranked 136th in the world, having the best two weeks of his career.
Atmane was Sinner's semi-final opponent, but the match wasn't special only because of the Frenchman. It was played on the day of the Italian's 24th birthday, which made the match special.
Atmane was clearly aware that his opponent was celebrating his birthday, and ahead of the match, he prepared a little surprise for Sinner. The French player is a huge Pokémon fan, so ahead of their meeting, he gave the World No. 1 player a Pokémon card.
Although they were friendly ahead of the match, the two battled it out on the court afterward, with Atmane showing why he made it all the way to the semi-final. Ultimately, he didn't have enough to trouble the top seed, as Sinner won the match 7-6(4), 6-2.
After the match, Sinner was stopped by the Cincinnati Open team, showing the card that he received from his opponent. He thanked Atmane again, showing his appreciation for the gift.
Despite taking on an opponent outside of the Top 100, Sinner had to battle hard. His opponent showed every bit of skill that got him to the semi-final, and the World No. 1 player admitted that it was a challenging match after winning it.
"It was a very, very tough challenge. Every time you play against something completely new, it’s difficult, but playing against this guy in the later stages of a tournament is even more difficult. The pressure is higher and you know they deserve to be there… He has beaten incredible players throughout his wins."
"I knew that I had to be very careful, and my mindset was in a good spot. I felt like I handled the situations on the court very well. He was serving incredibly well in the first set. He has huge, huge potential, and I think we saw that in the tournament."
Sinner to take on rival Alcaraz in Cincinnati final
After beating Atmane, Sinner will now take on his biggest rival, Carlos Alcaraz, in the final of the 2025 Cincinnati Open. It will be a fourth consecutive big final match in which they will meet. They played in the finals at the Italian Open, Roland Garros, and Wimbledon.
Unless rain interferes and pushes the final back like it did in Alcaraz's semi-final match against Alexander Zverev, the final match will be played on Monday at 3 p.m. local time (EDT). It's an untraditional day for the final, and it wasn't decided by the tournament organizers.
They, obviously, would have wanted to have the final played during the weekend, but because of the new two-week format of the ATP Masters 1000 events, the final match had to be scheduled for Monday.