Terence Atmane pulled out an adorable way of wishing Jannik Sinner on his birthday as he gave him a Pokémon card just before their semifinal match-up at the Cincinnati Open. Sinner trounced the French player to secure his spot in the finals, where he will face his biggest rival, Carlos Alcaraz.
Jannik Sinner has been unstoppable in the 2025 season, already securing Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Before the final major campaign kicks off in Flushing Meadows, the top-ranked player is getting back into rhythm at the Cincinnati Masters after missing the first two tournaments of the North American hardcourt swing.
Sinner proved his excellence yet again, booking a spot in the finals by defeating French player Terence Atmane in the semifinals. But beyond the game, he shared a heartwarming moment with Atmane, who gave him a Pokémon card as a birthday gift, as seen in a video posted by the Tennis Channel.
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As the players met backstage, Atmane pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it over to Sinner, who then hugged the 23-year-old in gratitude.
In a video by the Cincinnati Open, Jannik Sinner flaunted his gift to the camera and said:
"My present from Terence. Thank you so much, man."
Atmane had a stellar run in Cincinnati, gaining significant ranking points and inching closer to the top 50. En route to the semifinals, he defeated seeded players and even the home favorite, Taylor Fritz.
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz received a special request from the Canadian Open director to play next year

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz mindfully missed the Citi Open and Canadian Open to take a break before returning in full form for the US Open. Their decision to withdraw from the Toronto Masters event didn't please the tournament director, Karl Hale, who felt that the tournament's value would go down if the top players were out.
"I think Carlos and Sinner have to look at our tour, the ATP tour, and commit to these majors, you know. So we're in talks with them to ensure that going forward that they'll be participating in our event."
He added:
"The first thing is I would have Sinner and Alcaraz. Yeah, so I actually told them, you know, because, you know, we were in talks when they withdrew and I said, you know, we talked to them for several days. And then I said, OK, you know, we're here 2026, you're going to be in Montreal and just make sure that happens."
Sinner boasts three Grand Slam singles titles; he bagged his first Grand Slam in 2024 at the Australian Open. In 2025 he defended his title at Melbourne Park and took over the grass court at Wimbledon.
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Agnijeeta Majumder
Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.
Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.
When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.
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