iStockphoto / Aaron Doster-Imagn Images / andriano_cz
French tennis star Terence Atmance after outburst
French tennis star Terence Atmane lost his opening round qualifying match of the Shanghai Masters to Bernard Tomic in three sets (6-3, 4-6, 5-3). But the upset was overshadowed by Terence Atmane’s antics during the match.
The same Tennis pro who hit a ball at fans in the stands during the 2024 French Open and wasn’t disqualified for the outburst seemed to once again benefit from leniency as he was not disqualified for throwing his racket at fans in the stands. Why? Because the racket didn’t hit a fan despite the violent outburst.
French Tennis Star Terence Atmane Throws Racket In Anger
This incident comes on the heels of another outburst back in August at the U.S. Open. Terence Atmane was furious he couldn’t receive treatment for cramps at the sweltering U.S. Open and would blow a lead in that match to lose in the Round of 128.
Flash forward two months and this time the incident at the Rolex Shanghai Masters is somehow the worst yet. Check it out:
This is actually really disturbing
Way worse than anything Kyrgios or Rublev have done
Very concerning situation pic.twitter.com/vXW0zuvvBZ
— Gaelen (@GaelenBet) October 7, 2026
Here is an alternate angle from the fan’s point of view:
The outburst was ignited by an unforced error in the third set. Atamane could have greatly benefited from keeping his wits about him too!
A Public Apology
Following the incident, Terence Atmane released a statement on Instagram Stories and apologized to the public. He wrote “I’d like to take the chance to apologize regarding my bad behavior yesterday. Been inside the top 40 a month ago and see myself almost out of top 100 made me way more stressed and pressured that I could possibly imagine. It doesn’t excuse me for a bad behavior and after considering what happened on a court for these past weeks I’ve decided to take a step back and rebuild myself from 0.”
The apology continued, saying “Considering my health issues (not mental but actual health) I can’t tell if my season is over yet but all I know is no matter what decisions we will make, It’ll be the best one. Thank you for the support and see you soon on court.”
Terence has slipped in the ATP rankings from 41st (back in April) to 99th this year. He has just a 16-22 win-loss record so far this year and has only made it past a Round of 32 once since June.