Terence Atmane has provided one of the great underdog stories of the 2025 ATP season with his incredible campaign at the Cincinnati Open.
The Frenchman, just 23 years old, made the main draw of the ATP Masters 1000 event through qualifying and has picked up huge wins en route to the semifinals.
After overcoming Flavio Cobolli and Joao Fonseca, Atmane defeated Taylor Fritz before knocking out seventh seed Holger Rune.
In the final four, he will now go toe-to-toe with the Wimbledon champion, Jannik Sinner, as the world number 136 seeks to advance to a maiden tour-level final.Â
Should Atmane go all the way in Cincinnati, he will be among the lowest-ranked players to ever clinch a Masters title since the format’s introduction in 1990.
Photo by Shelley Lipton/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images5. Chris Woodruff
At the Canadian Open in 1997, world number 57 Chris Woodruff recorded several shocking results en route to the first and biggest title of his career.
The American defeated second seed Goran Ivanisevic in the third round before knocking out Mark Philippoussis in the quarterfinals.
Woodruff defeated Yevgeny Kafelnikov to advance to the final, where he was faced with three-time Grand Slam champion Gustavo Kuerten.
He was forced to a third set against Kuerten, but ultimately managed to complete the upset, winning 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images4. Alexei Popyrin
Last year’s ATP season saw the fourth-lowest-ranked player to clinch a Masters 1000 title, when then-ATP number 62 Alexei Popyrin won in Montreal.
Popyrin had never made it past the quarterfinals at a Masters event prior to his run at the Canadian Open in 2024.
He earned victories against seeded stars such as Ben Shelton, Grigor Dimitrov and Hubert Hurkacz on his way to the final, where he met Andrey Rublev.
The Australian won in straight sets to hoist the trophy and cracked the world’s top 25 for the first time in his career.
Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images3. Mikael Pernfors
In yet another Canadian Open shock, former Roland Garros finalist Mikael Pernfors made it to the championship match at the Masters tournament in 1993, ranked 95th in the world.
En route, Pernfors picked up a huge win against four-time Grand Slam champion Jim Courier and beat eighth seed Alexander Volkov in the last eight.
He won his semifinal clash in straight sets and came back from a set down to emerge victorious in the final against Todd Martin, who had previously knocked out defending champion Andre Agassi.
The Swede, at the time, was the oldest player to win a Masters title, aged 30.
Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images2. Roberto Carretero
At the 1996 Hamburg Open, Roberto Carretero made his way through qualifying to reach the main draw of the event.
The world number 143 overcame four seeded players to get to the final, where he was pitted against fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja.
Carretero won in four sets, in what was perhaps the most surprising result at a Masters event in history, as the player was virtually unknown.
Following his triumph, he lost in the first round of Roland Garros and never added to his trophy collection after that.
Photo by Stu Forster/Allsport/Getty Images5. Borna Coric
The lowest-ranked player to ever win a Masters title was Borna Coric, who lifted the Cincinnati Open title in 2022 as the world number 152.
Coric stunned 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal in the second round, beating the king of clay in three sets.
He didn’t drop a set after his clash with Nadal, winning against Roberto Bautista Agut, Felix Auger Aliassime, and Cameron Norrie, before besting Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.
Along with the incredible feat, Coric shot up the ATP rankings and became world number 29 after the event concluded.