Sinner Drops a Set to Atmane but Prevails: World No. 2 Advances to Quarterfinals in Beijing

Jannik Sinner secured his spot in the quarterfinals in Beijing but had to work hard to overcome Terence Atmane.
Just a few weeks after their previous encounter in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters 1000, Jannik Sinner and Terence Atmane faced off again, this time in the second round of the ATP 500 in Beijing.

After his victory against Marin Cilic (6-2, 6-2), the Italian world No. 2 hoped to confirm his form against the Frenchman, who had cleared the qualifying hurdle before dominating Zhang Zhizhen (6-4, 6-2).

It was a bonus match for the Frenchman, who nonetheless gave it his all. Broken early in the first set, Atmane conceded the opening set after an hour of play, not without having opportunities to level the score (missing five break points).

The match seemed all but over when Sinner broke serve at the same stage as in the first set, but the encounter then took an unexpected turn. Atmane broke back twice against his opponent and, with grit, pushed Sinner into errors to snatch a third set.

Playing well for two hours, Atmane could dream of a major upset, but the Wimbledon winner ultimately accelerated, this time for good.

Unable to respond, the Frenchman, ranked 68th in the world, eventually succumbed (6-4, 5-7, 6-0 in 2 hours and 20 minutes), but he can take pride in having more than held his own against one of the world’s best players for much of the match.

Despite the scare in the second set, Sinner secured the essential and advanced to the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing, marking his 13th consecutive quarterfinal on hard courts.

To reach the semifinals, he will have to overcome Fabian Marozsan, who has eliminated two French players since the start of the tournament, namely Benjamin Bonzi and Alexandre Muller.