(Reuters) -Frenchman Terence Atmane made sure Jannik Sinner had a 24th birthday to remember, gifting the world number one a Pokemon card before going on to lose their semi-final meeting at the Cincinnati Open on Saturday.
Top seed and defending champion Sinner ended qualifier Atmane’s run at the Masters 1000 tournament with a 7-6(4) 6-2 win.
Before the match, the pair were seen talking to each other in the tunnel leading onto centre court, where Atmane handed over the collectable based on the hit Japanese video game series and TV show.
“It’s his birthday today so I had to give him a little something,” Atmane told reporters.
“I was thinking last night about what I should give to him. I was like, ‘I think I still have some Pokemon cards that I brought from France. Why not give him just a Pokemon card?’ I’m a Pokemon card collector. I think this is the perfect gift.
“If that was my birthday, I would be so happy that someone gave me a Pokemon card.”
Sinner, who was also serenaded with “Happy Birthday” by the crowd, was grateful and slightly bemused by the gift.
“I was talking to him a little bit in the locker room. He has one of the biggest collections of Pokemon cards, and I’m very lucky that I got one of his ones,” the Italian told Tennis Channel.
“It was just a nice moment before a match, we didn’t know each other at all. So, it was a nice moment … The card was a kind of Pikachu. It said 30 damage to itself, so I don’t know if that is good or not!”
For Atmane, the defeat ended a remarkable run in Cincinnati during which he recorded wins over top-10 players Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune.
“Absolutely crazy, insane. I still cannot believe that I made the semi-finals here,” said world number 136 Atmane, who only a couple of months ago suffered back-to-back first-round exits in the second-tier Challenger Tour.
“Playing against Jannik today was also a very good memory for myself and I will remember that for a long time.”
He said he had worked a lot on his mental strength and controlling his emotions.
“I think that’s the key for me to succeed at a high level.”
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali Paul)
