Jannik Sinner given ‘alien' tag by opponent after he ends dream run in Cincinnati: ‘I gave my all today but…'
Sinner, on his birthday, didn't stand on ceremony as he saw off an early charge from Atmane to win an opening set tiebreaker, and from thereon in it was business as usual for the man who was crowned Wimbledon champion last month. Sinner completely neutralised Atmane in the second set and dominated to take it 6-2.
Following the match, the Frenchman was full of grace for even getting the chance to compete in such an important match at one of the bigger tournaments on the tennis tour. Taking to social media following the match, Atmane posted an Instagram story from his account which included a picture of him and Sinner embracing at the net, and captioning it 'I gave my all today but it wasn't enough against a true [alien],' using the alien emoji to describe the Italian.
Sinner has created a reputation of being a player who is almost untouchable for the majority of the ATP tour outside of Carlos Alcaraz, very rarely losing to lower-ranked opponents, and often handling those matches with incredible ease thanks to his combination of elite defense and incredible power. However, no bitterness from Atmane, who recognised that it simply wasn't going to be his day if Sinner was operating at his highest level.
Atmane entered this tournament ranked 136 in the world, but at the moment stands to gain nearly 70 ranking places thanks to his phenomenal performance in the USA. In Cincinnati, Atmane took down Sinner's countryman Flavio Cobolli early on, before also knocking out Brazilian starlet Joao Fonseca. He went on to add the scalps of Taylor Fritz, seeded fourth and the home favourite, and seventh seed Holger Rune of Norway in the quarterfinal to set up this clash.
Atmane, an enthusiastic collector of Pokemon cards, also won hearts by gifting a Pikachu card to Sinner ahead of their match, in honour of the Italian's 24th birthday. Sinner now prepares for a rematch against Carlos Alcaraz, the fourth time the pair are meeting in a tournament final in 2025.
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