Terence Atmane made a significant breakthrough at the Cincinnati Open after reaching the semifinals.
Atmane beat Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, Joao Fonseca and Flavio Cobolli to achieve the best result of his career.
The Frenchman’s impressive run came to an end in the semifinals, where Atmane was beaten by Jannik Sinner.
Atmane has been compared to a Grand Slam champion during his breakthrough, as there are now questions over whether he can repeat his run.
Jack Sock does not think Terence Atmane will be making deep runs at Grand Slams
Atmane won more matches at the Cincinnati Open than he had before in his entire career on the ATP Tour so far.
After coming all the way through qualifying to reach the Cincinnati Open semifinals, Atmane has subsequently risen 67 places to a career-high ranking of world number 69.
When discussing the 23-year-old on the Nothing Major Podcast, former top 10 player Jack Sock was asked if he thinks Atmane was a flash in the pan.
Sock claimed that he thinks Atmane will probably remain around his current ranking, but cannot see him making deep runs at Grand Slams.
“I think the confidence will lead to solidifying himself in the top 50 or 60,” said Atmane. “I don’t know if he’s going to break through into something crazy, or a lot higher than that.
“Obviously he showed the level of tennis that he can play but I think he also surprised himself with his results this week. I don’t think anybody was expecting that, including himself.
“It was an amazing week and results, but I don’t think he is going to be making deep second week runs at Slams. But he is fun to watch, I will say.”
What is next for Terence Atmane?
Atmane has never won a main draw match at a Grand Slam in his three previous appearances, and he will have to wait a while to disprove Sock’s prediction.
As he was ranked much lower at the time of the entry list cut-off and another Frenchman received a wildcard over Atmane for the US Open, he was scheduled to play qualifying instead.
However, Atmane will now have to wait for the Australian Open after he decided to withdraw from playing US Open qualifying.
Atmane is instead now scheduled to head to China for two Challenger tournaments he is entered into in Zhangjiagang and Shanghai, before the ATP 250 event in Chengdu.
With only 110 ranking points to defend this year, Atmane has an opportunity to continue climbing the rankings.
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