“Stress and Pressure”: Terence Atmane Apologizes After the Chaos in Shanghai

Terence Atmane is trying to turn the page after the incidents that have involved him in recent weeks. The Frenchman took to Instagram to apologize for his behavior in Shanghai, where—during his match against Bernard Tomic—he threw a racket into the stands before retiring when he was on the verge of defeat.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize for my inappropriate behavior yesterday. A month ago, I was ranked in the top 40, and now I find myself nearly out of the top 100. This has caused me much more stress and pressure than I could ever have imagined. That does not justify my misconduct,” Atmane wrote.

The difficult period the Frenchman is going through is not limited to what happened at the Shanghai Masters 1000. A few days earlier, on September 30, Atmane had also walked off the court at the Jingshan Challenger during the third set against Elias Ymer. On that occasion, he retired at 5-5, after allowing his opponent to come back from a 5-3 lead, without showing any obvious physical problems.

A somewhat similar scenario played out against Tomic. In the first round of the Shanghai qualifiers, Atmane decided to end the match at 5-3 in favor of the Australian in the decisive set, shaking his opponent’s hand as the match neared its conclusion.

Before the withdrawal, however, the most talked-about incident had occurred. With the score at 2-2 and 40-30 in Tomic’s favor, the Frenchman missed a backhand slice and vented his frustration by throwing his racket toward the stands. Fortunately, the racket did not hit anyone.

This gesture inevitably drew attention, especially in light of what happened to Daniil Medvedev in Beijing against Novak Djokovic. In Atmane’s case, however, the fact that no spectators were harmed made a fundamental difference.

Aware of the sensitivity of the moment, the Frenchman explained that he wanted to break this downward spiral and take the time needed to start over. The rest of his season also remains uncertain at the moment due to some physical issues.

“After what’s happened on the court in recent weeks, I’ve decided to take a step back and start over. Given my health issues (not mental, but physical), I can’t say yet whether my season is over. But I know one thing: whatever decision we make, it will be the best one. Thank you all for your support, and see you soon on the court.”