What Will Terence Atmane Wear Against Frances Tiafoe This Time?
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The tennis second which most stopped me in my tracks final month got here at ATP 500 Dallas, when the unseeded Frenchman Terence Atmane took court docket to play his first spherical match towards Frances Tiafoe.
Tiafoe was taking part in his first match for the reason that Australian Open, the place he’d reached the third spherical and showed promising signs for his season.
Tiafoe had additionally began in model together with his wardrobe, carrying a customized Lululemon outfit in Melbourne which was impressed by the inexperienced, white, and blue of the flag of his dad and mom’ homeland of Sierra Leone.
“The custom look will be worn by Tiafoe on court, placing personal identity and cultural storytelling at the forefront of one of the sport’s most global stages.
The kit features a dynamic spray-paint graphic intended to reflect the energy and movement of a tennis ball in play. Its blue, green and white color palette is inspired by the Sierra Leone flag, offering a subtle yet powerful nod to Tiafoe’s family roots.”
Tiafoe had switched into a brand new purple Lululemon ensemble for Dallas. But there was Atmane, the Frenchman, carrying the Sierra Leone-inspired outfit throughout from him.
Technically, Atmane wasn’t carrying the precise identical shirt as Tiafoe had worn in Melbourne, however as an alternative the retail model of the ensemble, which Lululemon calls a “Men’s Ventilated Short-Sleeve Tennis Shirt” in “Spray Slam Blue Green Multi.”
Because Atmane had worn a jacket onto the court docket as the 2 gamers had been strolling out, Tiafoe had no concept what his opponent was carrying, he informed Bouncestill he walked to the online for the coin toss and noticed his personal bespoke outfit staring again at him, an sudden sight he repeatedly referred to as “crazy”—as was evident from his slacked-jaw, smiling face in footage of the second.
“It was crazy, it was crazy—I liked it,” Tiafoe informed Bounces. “A lot of guys wear jackets when they come out, and I always go out in headphones and stuff, so I’m kind of in my own world. And when I walked to the net, I was like, ‘Come on, dawg.’ But it was funny, man, and I thought it was good. “I mean, it kind of shows his personality.”
Atmane is a rare tour-level player who gets to pick what he wears: he was dropped by Asics in late 2024 and still does not have an apparel sponsor—unusual among top-100 ATP players.
But while he gets to pick his own looks, Atmane told Bounces that he’d never before pulled any such stunt like he did against Tiafoe in Texas.
“First time, first time,” Atmane said. “I remember I was watching Frances playing with that kit in Australia and it just came straight to my mind [for how] to play French. I was like, ‘You know what? “I’m going to try to go in his head a little bit before the match and I’m going to try to get his kit.”
So before the match, Atmane found a Lululemon store near the Dallas tournament and went there himself to do some shopping.
“It’s pretty easy for me to get the fits there,” Atmane said. “So I’m just going there, grabbing the fit, paying [for it] myself, and then coming back straight onto the court with it.”
While Tiafoe wasn’t mad, he was definitely motivated, and gained 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
“I couldn’t lose—I’ll tell you that much,” Tiafoe informed Bounces. “I imply, shit: you may beat me any time, however I am unable to lose when this man’s carrying my tee. So after I misplaced the primary set, I used to be stressing out just a little bit. But nah, man, he is an important participant and he had win at present [over Arthur Rinderknech in the second round of Miami]. So I’m glad for him—he is a cool dude.”
I requested Tiafoe if he thought there was extra room for stunts like Atmane’s, and he heartily assented.
Ben Rothenberg, Bounces: Do you’re feeling like tennis has room for extra types of—I do not even know whether or not to name it ‘thoughts video games,’ no matter that was. More playfulness, getting underneath guys’ pores and skin or stunning them, no matter it might be?
Frances Tiafoe: Yeah, I believe it is good, man. I believe it is good. Just spice issues up. It’s all aggressive nature, man. Gamesmanship—regardless of the case could also be that you just wish to name it—I believe its good. I believe it is good for the game. And additionally it exhibits character, man: guys have character. It’s cool, so allow them to present it in no matter side.
Atmane misplaced the match in Dallas, however had the enjoyable he meant.
“We’re dying laughing in the locker room after that,” Atmane informed Bounces.
Although some would possibly’ve been nervous about an outfit alternative that might be learn as cultural appropriation by delicate of us, Atmane felt like he was protected to be a bit playful with the jovial Tiafoe.
“I know Frances a bit: we’d chatted a lot before, so I was sure that he would be super happy,” Atmane stated. “And he does represent his country, so for me, I was just grateful, you know, to be able to represent his country as well with him.”
Atmane stated he did not hear from any Sierra Leoneans about his tribute although, no less than past Tiafoe’s personal father.
“Frances’ dad was really happy, too,” Atmane stated of Frances Tiafoe Sr. “It was quite fun. Yeah, it was a very, very fun story.”
The second has develop into a working joke for over a month now.
“And it seems like, also now, we’re still like laughing about it,” Atmane stated. “I am saying to him, every single week: ‘I hope I’m not going to play you because there’s another kit that is going to come.’”
Sure sufficient, Twentieth-ranked Tiafoe and 53rd-ranked Atmane will meet once more within the fourth spherical of the Miami Open on Tuesday night.
“I know in what kit he’s playing right now, for Indian Wells and Miami, so if I play against him, he knows what will happen,” Atmane stated earlier than that match was settled, laughing. “It’s going to be his same one.”
If Atmane commits to the bit, that may imply a sleeveless mild inexperienced shirt, a hue that Lululemon calls “Ivy Grove.”
Atmane is an attention-grabbing character away from his tactical wardrobe decisions as effectively. After his win over Felix Auger-Aliassime within the third spherical right here, he held court docket for a number of minutes with Tennis Channel’s Steve Weissman in regards to the booming resale marketplace for uncommon Pokémon playing cards.
Before the most important match of his profession to date—a semifinal at ATP-WTA 1000 Cincinnati towards top-ranked Jannik Sinner—Atmane gifted Sinner a Pokémon card as the 2 had been about to stroll out onto court docket.
“I have a little something for you,” Atmane stated as he pulled the cardboard out of his pocket for a stunned however grateful Sinner.
“I thought it was pretty cool to give him a Pokémon card because it was his birthday,” Atmane stated of the reward, which he gave Sinner on the day he turned 24. “And I’m just a nice guy, you know? At the end of the day, we just play tennis.”
And as profiled by ATP Insider Andrew Eichenholz recentlyAtmane has developed a deep curiosity in finding out metaphysics.
“I was starting to be really interested because I never really paid attention before about the world that we’re living in,” Atmane stated. “So that’s pretty much how I started to be really interested in just some simple questions like, ‘What is life about at the end of the day and what is everything about? Are there any purposes? Is there anything that I should know before I die?'”
There will probably be loads of time for these deeper questions for so long as this universe exists. For now, we simply wait to see what Atmane is carrying subsequent.
UPDATE at 6:30 pm: In the tip, Atmane wore nothing significantly exceptional. Oh effectively! Still glad to carry you one thing on one of many tour’s most intriguing new characters.
Thanks for studying Bounces! If you loved this story and wish to learn extra prefer it, please subscribe to unlock every part right here! -Ben
