Terence Atmane admits he made a mistake the last time he played Taylor Fritz which he managed to correct in Cincinnati

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Taylor Fritz was stunned in the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open by qualifier Terence Atmane.

Fritz is one of the top contenders for the US Open this year, as the world number four and last year’s finalist.

Despite his recent losses to them, Fritz still believes he can compete with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, but was beaten in Cincinnati by the world number 136.

This was a second meeting between Fritz and Atmane, with the Frenchman suggesting that he learnt something from their meeting at the Shanghai Masters.

Terence Atmane explains what he did differently to beat Taylor Fritz

Last year at the Shanghai Masters, Fritz beat Atmane in a close-fought straight sets victory.

However, on this occasion it was Atmane who got revenge over the American number one, beating Fritz, 3-6 7-5 6-3.

When speaking to the Tennis Channel desk after obtaining his first top 10 win, Atmane suggested that he let Fritz dictate play too much at the Shanghai Masters.

However, in their latest encounter at the Cincinnati Open, Atmane tried to raise his intensity, but has admitted that he thought he was a bit ‘lucky’ to win the second set.

“What a week! It’s so crazy,” said Atmane. “I think that during the match in Shanghai I think I let Taylor play his tennis more than myself, so today I was just trying to play my game, my tennis and to try to not let him breathe. Because as soon as he gets a little bit of time, he is so dangerous.

“His forehand is so heavy and his serve is so big. His backhand is super solid. So it was very difficult for me to keep the same intensity on every single point because when you drop a little bit against this kind of player, you get absolutely destroyed from the first shot.

“But the first set I think he played way better than me and on the second set, I think I was a little bit lucky on some points at 6-5 in the second set but I grabbed the second one and in the third set I was just trying to go for it, nothing to lose, and here we are.”

What will happen to Terence Atmane’s ranking after the Cincinnati Open?

It has been a hugely impressive tournament for Atmane, who has now won six consecutive matches after coming through qualifying.

Atmane has beaten the likes of Fritz, Flavio Cobolli and Joao Fonseca to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal, and is now confirmed to make his top 100 debut when the rankings are updated.

The 23-year-old is currently No.93 in the live ATP rankings and could climb to as high as the top 40 if he was to continue his dream run and win the title.

Despite his breakout run in Cincinnati, Atmane is not guaranteed to play in the main draw of the US Open, as his ranking was not high enough by the time of the entry list.

Atmane will instead have to play qualifying next week, but first he will play in the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals against Holger Rune.