Terence Atmane Shares How He Survived Hellish Cramps to Win Madrid Battle

Only Terence Atmane knows how he survived the hellish cramps when he was battling against Ugo Humbert in the second round of the Madrid Open on Saturday (April 25). The cramps nearly forced him to throw in the towel, but somehow he managed to clinch a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) victory.

The thrilling part of the match came in the second set tie-break. After Humbert took a 4-2 lead and Atmane looked completely exhausted, the latter somehow got up, won five of the last six points, and eventually won the match.

It was like going through hell in order to win today. I just tried to do the best I could, as I always do. Today I had to fight with my whole body full of cramps, so it wasn’t easy, but being able to win in two sets is something wonderful because I was really bad physically and just trying to survive.

Terence Atmane said at the press conference

There were moments when Atmane thought he was about to cramp up completely. But there were also moments he felt a bit better.

Until 7-6, 5-4, everything was perfect. I think I was a bit tense about closing out the match, and in the first point of that game, I started to cramp. I’m not used to it, so I panicked a bit, couldn’t breathe properly, and it got worse and worse. In my head, I was just trying not to show anything and finish the match as quickly as possible. But he came back, so I had to keep fighting, and that’s what I did.

Terence Atmane added

Atmane now holds a 1-1 head-to-head record over his compatriot. Prior to this match, they met in the round of 32 of the Adelaide International, which Humbert won.

Atmane, who is playing in the Madrid Open main draw for the first time in his career, has reached the third round of a Masters 1000 tournament for the fourth time in his career after the 2024 Italian Open, 2025 Cincinnati Open, and this year’s Miami Open.

Terence Atmane will face Alexander Zverev next

Terence Atmane will face a tough challenge in the third round in the form of Alexander Zverev. Sascha, a two-time champion in Madrid, knocked out Mariano Navone in three sets.

Ups and downs. The good moments were very high, like the first set, which was almost perfect, and the bad ones very low, like the start of the second set. I lost a bit of concentration, but there are positive things. I feel like I was serving extremely well. In the first set, I played very well, and in the end, I got back to my game and won in three sets, which is the most important thing.

Zverev won the titles in the Spanish capital back in 2018 and 2021. He also reached the final in 2022 but failed to go past Carlos Alcaraz. But he has yet to win a tour-level title since lifting last year’s Munich Open against Ben Shelton. This year, he reached the semifinals of the first three Masters 1000s, losing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner three times.

The three-time Grand Slam finalist has so far won seven Masters 1000 titles, and his last at this level was the 2024 Paris Masters against Ugo Humbert. Last year in the Masters 1000s, he reached three semifinals, but all on hard courts.

Zverev will be meeting Atmane for the first time in his career. Atmane is a one-time semifinalist in the Masters 1000s, reaching the stage at the 2025 Cincinnati Masters.

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