"I just couldn’t breathe": Terence Atmane shares circumstances which led him to retire from Shanghai Masters opener

French tennis star Terence Atmane has shared the circumstances which led him to retire from the first round of the ongoing Shanghai Masters. The 23-year-old, widely regarded as one of the most improved players on the tour in recent years, failed to complete his first round against Camilo Ugo Carabelli.

The final score of the match was 4-4. It was the third time in 2025 that Atmane was forced to retire from a game because of a fitness concern. In March, during the qualification round of the Miami Open, Atmane retired while facing America’s Brandon Nakashima after just two games.

Then, later in April, Atmane once again retired, this time in the Challenger event in Gwangju against Alibek Kachmazov. Atmane, in a post on his social media account, shared the circumstances which forced him to withdraw from the competition. Atmane stated that his hands started shaking after the first point of the match. Atmane then shared that soon after, his whole body began to shake, and he was unable to breathe.

“Today, after the first point of the match, both of my hands were shaking. I said to myself, ‘Okay, maybe I’m more stressed than usual.’ After the second game and a comfortable 2/0 lead,” wrote Atmane. “I felt like no matter what I was doing, I just couldn’t breathe. I called the physio immediately, but no words came out of my mouth. I panicked; I was shaking. It was impossible for me to remember where I was. It was impossible for me to tell you which day of the week it was.

He continued by writing: “My body sent me a signal, the signal to stop this immediately. I’m still confused about what happened today, and I don’t remember much. The heat stress I faced today could have been worse than losing consciousness for an hour and a rapid heartbeat.”

Atmane then went on to explain that he will take some time off before returning to the court to feature in the last tournament of his season. “It’s time for me to take some time off before heading to the last tournaments of the season. See you all soon. Terence.”

It is not clear why Atmane had to go through what he did, but on the positive side of things, he will be extremely proud of his performances in the recent past, where he produced some incredible results. At the highest level, Atmane managed to play just 14 matches, winning seven and losing seven.

Interestingly, two of those defeats came against now world number two and four-time Grand Slam winner Italy’s Jannik Sinner. His best run in a major competition came at the Cincinnati Open, where he was eventually knocked out by Sinner in the semifinal in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-2.

During that competition, Atmane registered some incredible wins. He defeated Wimbledon 2025 quarterfinalist Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in the round of 64 with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 7-6. In the next round, Atmane got the better of highly rated Brazil’s Joao Fonseca in straight sets. His biggest win of the competition came in the fourth round as he defeated America’s Taylor Fritz with a score of 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. In the quarterfinal, Atmane got the better of Denmark’s Holger Rune in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-3.

Before coming to Shanghai, Atmane featured in the recently concluded China Open in Beijing. In that competition, he also produced some impressive performances. His tournament’s journey ended in the second round as he lost to Sinner, this time in three sets, with a score of 6-4, 5-7, 6-0.