The dream run of Terence Atmane continues in Cincinnati.
Atmane surged past World No.9 Holger Rune on Thursday night for his second straight Top-10 win, to book a spot in his first career Masters semifinal.
“I don’t think that any words can describe how I feel right now,” Atmane said. “It’s pretty insane to be honest. Being here in the semifinals of a Masters 1000, breaking into the Top-100 and even [higher] with the win tonight.
“It’s also a lot of money for me so it’s going to be very helpful for my career, so it means a lot to me. I’m very emotional about it.”
The French southpaw was dominant from start to finish as he took a 6-2, 6-3 victory to become the first qualifier to reach the final four in Cincinnati since Alexandr Dolgopolov in 2015.
Atmane, who has defeated Yoshihito Nishioka, Flavio Cobolli, Joao Fonseca, Taylor Fritz and Rune in his best ever tournament, is up to No.69 in the live rankings after starting the week at No.136.
He won 28 of 33 first-serve points and set the tone early by battling through an eight-deuce game to convert his fifth break point of the game for 3-1 in set one. It was all the wiggle room he would need.
Atmane was broken in the first game of the second set but broke back for 2-2, then he moved ahead with a break for 5-3 before serving out the match in one hour and 13 minutes.
Atmane is now the eighth lowest-ranked player to reach a Masters 1000 semifinal.
He will face World No.1 Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.
