Jannik Sinner Opens Up on the Pokémon Gift Received From Terence Atmane Before Cincinnati Open Semifinals

Terence Atmane brought forth a cute and lighthearted moment before the biggest match of his career so far at the Cincinnati Open semifinal by gifting his opponent and birthday boy Jannik Sinner a Pokemon card. It was a nice way to break the ice for the two who met on court for the first time in their career, symbolizing the start of a healthy off court rapport.

World No. 1 Sinner, who turned 24 was gifted the Pikachu Pokemon card in the tunnel before the start of the match. It marks a distinct shift in what tennis fans would’ve seen in the previous generations with intense rivalry extending beyond the court.

Another generational change that can be seen is in the gift itself, a Pokemon card, something which many 2000s kids grew up collecting. Although Sinner is not a Pokemon card collector like Atmane, he opened up on playing the Pokemon mobile game briefly, which was released in 2016:

I’m not much into Pokemon, but I used to play the mobile game where you had to catch them. I had it for like two or three days and then never played again. I chatted a bit with him in the locker room. He has one of the largest collections of pokemon cards, so I feel very lucky that he gave me one. We didn’t know each other at all, it was a very nice moment before the match.

Atmane, ranked 136th gave a tough battle to Sinner in the first set with neither facing a break point. Both of them were good on their first serve with Sinner winning 95% of first serve points and Atmane winning 86% of first serve points.

The set went to tiebreak, which Sinner eventually clinched calmly. The Italian dominated the second set, breaking Atmane for a 3-1 lead. At 5-2, Sinner sealed the victory 7-6(4), 6-2 on his third match point when Atmane netted a forehand.

Terence Atmane opens up on gifting Jannik Sinner a pokemon card

23-year-old Terence Atmane, an avid Pokemon card collector started collecting cards in his childhood and resumed it in 2019. The Frenchman boasts a huge collection of Pokemon cards and later opened up on why he gifted Jannik Sinner a Pikachu card on his birthday:

I had to give him a little something. I was thinking last night about what should I give to him. … I was like, OK, why not give him just a Pokemon card? It’s like, it’s just me. I’m Pokemon card collector. I think this is like the perfect gift. If that was my birthday, I will be so happy that someone [gave me] a Pokemon card. So I was like, OK, why not just [give to] him, like a very nice Pokemon card?