Terence Atmane has spoken out after he was forced to withdraw from the US Open qualifying event. The Frenchman emerged as the breakout star of the recent Cincinnati Open, entering the tournament as a qualifier ranked down at No. 136 in the world and storming into the semi-finals, beating two top-10 players en route.
He skyrocketed up the rankings, but still had to go through qualifying to enter the main draw of the US Open, because the entry deadline came a few weeks ago when he was still outside of the top 100. When he arrived in New York, Atmane – who is an avid collector of Pokemon cards – received his own custom card from the US Open.
However, days after losing to Jannik Sinner in the Cincinnati semi-finals, he pulled out of the US Open instead of attempting to qualify for a big tournament again.
Atmane, who is now up to a career-high ranking of No. 69 in the world, has now revealed that he underwent an MRI scan before deciding to withdraw from the US Open.
In a statement on Instagram, the 23-year-old wrote: “Hello everyone. After a foot MRI yesterday in NY we detected an intermedial grade partial tearing of the medial collateral ligament of the first MTP joint.
“Grade 2 muscle injury involving the medial head or the flexor hallucis brevis. Low-grade partial tearing of the medial sesamoidal phalangeal ligament.
“Which in other terms won’t make me able to play the US Open… I do feel sad about it because with the last result I want to push for more but trying to be smart and get myself ready for Asia was the best decision for my team and I. See you guys in Chengdu.”
It’s a crushing blow for Atmane, who upset the likes of Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, Flavio Cobolli and Joao Fonseca on his way to his first Masters 1000 semi-final in Cincinnati last week.
Coming into the tournament, the French star only had one tour-level match win for the entire 2025 season. And he would have been a heavy favourite to carry his momentum into the US Open and qualify for the main draw.
During his run to the last four in Cincinnati, Atmane also won over fans with his off-court habits. The world No. 69 started collecting Pokemon cards when he was just five years old, and now he has one of the biggest collections in France.
Atmane faced world No. 1 Sinner in the Cincinnati Open semi-finals on what was Sinner’s birthday. Right before they stepped on the court, Atmane handed his opponent a special Pokemon card as a birthday gift. Sinner later said it was a “nice moment before the match.”
US Open organisers kept Atmane’s touching gesture in mind, and they decided to present the Frenchman with a special gift of his own when he arrived in New York. They turned Atmane into a Pokemon card, complete with his own battle moves.
“Welcome to New York, Terence. Go catch ‘em all!” a note from the tournament’s player services read. Atmane publicly thanked the US Open on Instagram before he was forced to pull out.
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