عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Atmane Gifts Birthday Boy Sinner Pokemon Card Ahead of Cincinnati Semi-final

Terence Atmane of France comes to the net for a ball while playing Jannik Sinner of Italy during the semi-final of the Cincinnati Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 16, 2025 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)
Terence Atmane of France comes to the net for a ball while playing Jannik Sinner of Italy during the semi-final of the Cincinnati Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 16, 2025 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)
TT
TT

Atmane Gifts Birthday Boy Sinner Pokemon Card Ahead of Cincinnati Semi-final

Terence Atmane of France comes to the net for a ball while playing Jannik Sinner of Italy during the semi-final of the Cincinnati Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 16, 2025 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)
Terence Atmane of France comes to the net for a ball while playing Jannik Sinner of Italy during the semi-final of the Cincinnati Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 16, 2025 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)

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 center 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."

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Veteran Monfils Exits to Standing Ovation on Australian Open Farewell

Gael Monfils of France acknowledges to the crowds after losing his Men’s Singles first round match against Dane Sweeny of Australia at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2026. (EPA)
Gael Monfils of France acknowledges to the crowds after losing his Men’s Singles first round match against Dane Sweeny of Australia at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT

Veteran Monfils Exits to Standing Ovation on Australian Open Farewell

Gael Monfils of France acknowledges to the crowds after losing his Men’s Singles first round match against Dane Sweeny of Australia at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2026. (EPA)
Gael Monfils of France acknowledges to the crowds after losing his Men’s Singles first round match against Dane Sweeny of Australia at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2026. (EPA)

French entertainer Gael Monfils was bundled out of the Australian Open in the first round on Tuesday in a brave farewell to a tournament he has lit up so many times.

The 39-year-old, one of the most colorful and popular players in men's tennis, battled all the way but Australian qualifier Dane Sweeny prevailed 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 in an epic lasting nearly four hours.

There was an on-court presentation and standing ovation afterwards for Monfils, who said: "Somehow it is the finish line, but thank you so much for an amazing ride.

"I have a lot of great memories here."

Monfils, who has won 13 ATP titles in a career stretching back to 2004, said in October that this year would be his last in tennis.

Launching his 20th Australian Open campaign, Monfils outlasted Sweeny, who is 15 years his junior, in an attritional first set.

Roared on by a partisan full house at Melbourne Park, Sweeny fought back to seize the second set and level an enthralling match.

Monfils, now ranked 110 but who rose to six in the world in his pomp, looked to be struggling physically in glaring sunshine.

The French veteran was frequently bent over double between points, one hand on his left knee and the other using his racquet to stay upright.

He alternately grimaced and grinned.

Monfils saw a trainer after losing the second set but still trudged out for the third, and was soon broken on the way to losing the set.

In a raucous party atmosphere, Monfils summoned reserves of energy from somewhere to race into a 4-1 lead in the fourth set, only for Sweeny to peg him back.

Sweeny clinched on his first match point before collapsing to the court.

He faces American eighth seed Ben Shelton in round two.

Paris-born Monfils has never won a Grand Slam but he has frequently gone deep in the biggest tournaments, including making the quarter-finals in Melbourne in 2016 and 2022.

Monfils married Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina in 2021 and they welcomed a daughter, Skai, a year later.

Sports

Morocco's Igamane Suffers ACL Injury

Morocco's forward #07 Hamza Igamane reacts as he misses his penatly during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) semi-final football match between Nigeria and Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat on January 14, 2026. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
Morocco's forward #07 Hamza Igamane reacts as he misses his penatly during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) semi-final football match between Nigeria and Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat on January 14, 2026. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
TT
TT

Morocco's Igamane Suffers ACL Injury

Morocco's forward #07 Hamza Igamane reacts as he misses his penatly during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) semi-final football match between Nigeria and Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat on January 14, 2026. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
Morocco's forward #07 Hamza Igamane reacts as he misses his penatly during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) semi-final football match between Nigeria and Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat on January 14, 2026. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

Lille striker Hamza Igamane suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in Morocco's Africa Cup of Nations final against Senegal, the Ligue 1 side announced on Monday, casting doubt over his participation in this year's World Cup.

The 23-year-old was on the bench ‌for the ‌final, which Senegal ‌won ⁠1-0, before ‌coming on in extra time as the sixth substitute. He lasted seven minutes before going off injured, leaving Walid Regragui's side to finish the match with ⁠10 men.

"Tests carried out on the ‌player have unfortunately confirmed ‍a serious ‍injury. Hamza Igamane has indeed ‍suffered a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee," Reuters quoted Lille as saying in a statement.

"Hamza will be unavailable for several months," it added, with ⁠the injury coming five months before the 2026 World Cup, where Morocco will face Brazil, Scotland and Haiti in Group C.

Igamane, who joined Lille from Rangers in the close season, has scored nine goals in 21 games for the French ‌side in all competitions.

Sports

Precision-Serving Former Finalist Rybakina Powers on in Melbourne

Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina signs autographs after her victory against Slovenia's Kaja Juvan in their women's singles match on day three of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 20, 2026. (AFP)
Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina signs autographs after her victory against Slovenia's Kaja Juvan in their women's singles match on day three of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 20, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Precision-Serving Former Finalist Rybakina Powers on in Melbourne

Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina signs autographs after her victory against Slovenia's Kaja Juvan in their women's singles match on day three of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 20, 2026. (AFP)
Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina signs autographs after her victory against Slovenia's Kaja Juvan in their women's singles match on day three of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 20, 2026. (AFP)

Former finalist Elena Rybakina warned Tuesday if her serve was firing she would be a threat at the Australian Open, after reinforcing her title credentials with a comfortable first-round victory.

The fifth seed, who lost the 2023 final in three tough sets to Aryna Sabalenka, sent Slovenia's Kaja Juvan packing 6-4, 6-3 with her serve proving a potent weapon.

Rybakina won 83 percent of her first-serve points to keep up her record of safely negotiating the first hurdle at every Grand Slam since the 2022 US Open.

"No matter who is on the other side, if the serve is going, then it's perfect," she said after routinely racing to 40-0 leads and holding to love three times.

"Of course, little things (to work on) on the serve. Maybe adjust, be better in the first few shots of the rally, then we will see how it's going to go.

"But I'm happy with the serve, it really worked today."

It was her second serve that truly separated her from Juvan, winning 10 of 18 points behind it and not facing a break point until the final game of the match.

Rybakina, who won Wimbledon in 2022, faces France's Varvara Gracheva next.