Terence Atmane: the 'athlete with the highest IQ challenges Jannik Sinner, "alien" of tennis

Big surprise at the Cincinnati Masters 1000, Terence Atmane will face on Saturday evening in Italy what is probably the biggest tennis challenge of his still young career, the semifinal against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner. The Frenchman, currently number 136 in the world (after Cincinnati, however, he will enter the Top 100), is not only known for his qualities on the court, however.

Born on January 9, 2002, in Boulogne-sur-Mer (the birthplace of sports greats such as Jean-Pierre Papin and Franck Ribery), Terence Atman is indeed a genius who goes beyond the court, having an IQ of 158. An aspect on which he is playing on right now in Cincinnati, as when after beating Holger Rune in the quarters he ‘autographed’ the camera not with his name, but quoting Fermi’s Paradox.

Who knows, perhaps by placing the very emphasis on assessing the possibility of making contact with extraterrestrial life forms, Atmane really wanted to wink at Jannik Sinner, a “alien” of contemporary tennis. “It is for moments like this that I train so much, every day” the French tennis player told ‘L’Equipe’.

“It will be an interesting match for me – added Atman – after beating the number 4 and the number 9 in the world (Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune, ed.), I will be facing the number 1. It will be another chance to play at a very high level but I will face him as I face all my opponents, in the end I have nothing to lose”.