MUBADALA DC OPEN

July 27, 2026

Terence Atmane

Press Conference

T. ATMANE/F. Tiafoe

4-6, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Terence, congratulations. Obviously you've played Frances many times this year. What was different in the preparation this time around?

TERENCE ATMANE: Well, I think mentally I was trying to say to myself, to convince myself, that this time was the good one. After losing three times straight against Frances with three very big battles, you know, I was just trying to stay locked in, trying to do my things, and just trying to truly believe that I could get it, that I could get this win. I think that's the reason why I'm here tonight.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Mentally do you have a percentage in your mind of first serves that you want to hit?

TERENCE ATMANE: No, no, I'm never thinking about it. I'm just trying to go full, trying to go as fast, as quick as I can, trying to play smart when I have to play smart.

It's very tough to try to keep staying focused on how many first serves I'm putting in. But sometimes on changeover I like to watch percentage, especially on the second serve, to see because, you know, second-serve percentage is more important than the first-serve percentage, especially second-serve point win, especially on hard court. Every time if it's above 55%, it is statistically proved that you have a lot of chances to win a match.

That was let's just say the only goal that I had in mind when it comes to statistics. I'm just trying to stay focused on my game. It's already hard enough on court with Foe. It's very difficult.

Q. 4-All in the third you break it love. What was working so well for you in that game that allowed you to get that break?

TERENCE ATMANE: Yeah, you know, I was just trying to say to my coach and the coaches was saying back that the only goal that I had in that game was trying to be more hungry than him about winning this game especially. You know, I was just really ready to die on that game to win every single point. I think that's what worked for me.

As soon as I was up Love-40 I remember the scenario that happened in Miami to get to the quarterfinal when I had also same, Love-40 at 4-4 in the final set, and I lost 6-4. In my head it was a little bit like, you know, I cannot do the same mistake twice.

As soon as I grabbed the opportunity to come to the net to finish the point, I was just trying to go for it, because the last time I letted [sic] him come back, and I made some stupid mistakes. So that was the only goal that I had tonight. Even if I was about to lose the match, I was just trying to be better than the last time I play him on hard court. I think that's what make the difference tonight.

Q. In the second and third sets it seemed like the more you were able to extend the point, the more to your advantage. The power on not only serve, but the forehand forcing him to spray some balls, especially compared to the first set when the points were a lot shorter, was that kind of a strategy for you?

TERENCE ATMANE: Exactly, yeah. On the second set and third set I was just trying to put a little bit more balls, trying to play deep, to play heavy, and just to try to grab opportunities, but without forcing them, you know. Just trying to wait for the good one, and not going full like the first set.

But, you know, it's never easy. First match on hard court after, like, four month, you know, so it's never easy to come back at the peak, peak level. It just took me, like, a set to really get back into it.

Yeah, that's the difference between the first and second and third.

Q. First match back on hard court, but also here it's Frances' hometown, and this place means a lot to him. Did you feel that expectation, that you knew he was going to have the crowd and folks in favor for him?

TERENCE ATMANE: Yeah, I felt like he was about to get every single person in the crowd, which is completely normal. You know, I love this kind of atmosphere.

As I always say, I always feel at home when I play in the U.S. I don't know why. It's just a great feeling for me to play in front of American people.

You know, they're here to see a battle; they're here to see a show. That's what I'm always trying to do, to give a good show to every single person and to just to be myself at the end of the day. I think that's the most important thing for every single person, to stay yourself.

Yeah, you know, I knew in a way that he's going to have more expectation because it's his home tournament, and it's very important for him. The same way that French Open is very important for me, you know? And Cincinnati as well. We're going to get that later.

Yeah, so let's just say I was just trying to really stay focused because I knew that in-consciously [sic] he could be a little bit more tight than usual because it's his hometown, you know. So it's completely normal. It's like human feelings, you know.

But I felt like he played such an amazing tennis. Even if he was under pressure every time I was going full on him, he wasn't serving so well, and he was putting a lot of pressure, especially on my serve games. When he came back from 2-1 to 2-2, when I felt like he was really struggling at the game when I broke him, and then suddenly he came back, I was very surprised.

You know, that's also why he's at this ranking today. And it's very inspiring me, of course, for me to get better and to be one day at this level.

Q. Terence, I wanted to ask for you since you played Tiafoe so many times coming into matches like this specifically, how much are you thinking of all the things that you did before and can change, or you're sort of like, I'm going to forget most of everything and come fresh?

TERENCE ATMANE: No, I try to remember every single point that I played against him on the past, like, three times, because I didn't want to make the same mistake a fourth time.

I knew that his backhand is basically money. Every single time he has a backhand, it's just for me impossible to play. I knew that he's serving a lot of wide serve on the right side against me.

So after the first set, I was just trying to change a little bit myself to try to do different things, things that are going to, well, make him a little bit uncomfortable in a way because I really wanted to win.

So I had to change something, because if I was staying the same, I think I would have lose straight sets. This is the reason why I had to find a resource that I had in my gut and in my tennis to be able to pass that and to be able to also try to say to myself that it's not because he beat me three times, that he's going to beat me four times. So that was I think the key for tonight.

Q. You've played Frances obviously three times, we all know, and all three of those previous meetings were really tight. How would you compare, in your opinion, his level tonight to those previous meetings? I know you said he played amazing. He was critical of his game. How would you analyze his form?

TERENCE ATMANE: Yeah, I think that tonight we played such very high intensity tennis-wise level. Especially with the condition, it's not easy because it's very humid. We can't see really well the ball on these kind of night sessions.

It was just trying to adapt ourselves a little bit more than when we played last time in Miami with the already four matches before, you know, so a lot of rhythm. Here we had zero rhythm, both of us. We came from grass, so it's not easy also to adapt.

Yeah, I think that tonight, I would say it was the best battle because I won it, so of course I'm going to say that. But I truly felt that it was such a high level tonight of tennis. I'm really happy that he offered me the opportunity to give him a battle like that tonight.