Terence Atmane Joins The Show, Going To Mars vs. Winning a Slam, Alien Life & Pokémon | EP 168

**Sam** (0:00)
All right, everyone, on today's episode Nothing Major, we have an amazing interview with Terence Atmane. We also have fan questions and life advice, typical Friday show. So with that, let's get started.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:11)
Jack, John, Stevie and Sam got close a few times, never won a slam, nothing major.

**Sam** (0:17)
All right, everyone, welcome back. Got Steve Johnson, John Isner, Charlie Fox, the team at Self, myself, also here.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:26)
What did I just say?

**John** (0:27)
The team at SIFT.

**Sam** (0:28)
SIFT, the team at SIFT, the team at Myself.
I think that was the intro. All right, let's get started. All right, everyone, we've got an interview now with Terence Atmane, maybe one of the most fascinating people in the world, certainly on the tennis court.

**Stevie** (0:44)
He lost us for a few minutes during the interview.

**Sam** (0:46)
He lost us for a few minutes talking about stuff we couldn't comprehend. So I hope you enjoy this interview with Terence Atmane. All right, everyone, on today's podcast, we have the left-hander, the Cincinnati semi-finalist from last year, Terence Atmane. First of all, did I pronounce that correctly?

**Terence Atmane** (1:03)
Perfectly.

**Sam** (1:04)
Really?

**Terence Atmane** (1:05)
Yes, that was perfect.

**Sam** (1:06)
No way.

**Stevie** (1:07)
That's a first.

**Sam** (1:08)
All right, I've called a couple of your matches and I'm always like, is it Atmane, Atmane? All right, Terence Atmane.
First of all, I want to start with this. Your nickname is the Magician. All right, obviously people have seen you play, you play a little bit like a Magician, but you also are somewhat of a Magician, right? Do you do magic?

**Terence Atmane** (1:27)
I do, I do. That's why the nickname is coming from, yeah. So I'm actually doing cards, cards trick, mostly.
And when I played, when I played juniors, everyone called me the Magician because I was literally showing off all of my magic tricks in every single day. And since then, everyone kept that nickname, especially the players like my age, they all call me the Magician. So I just kept the nickname.

**Sam** (1:52)
That's unbelievable. Do you walk around? Do you have cards with you at all times? Just in case the opportunity arises?

**Terence Atmane** (1:58)
I do, I do actually.
I'm not actually showing them anymore a lot, but I still have the cards in my bag just in case someone wants to see a magic trick. And it's basically my bag every time.

**Sam** (2:11)
I love it. I was going to ask you for a quick one, but is that annoying or no? Is it easier to do a quick one over camera? Will it not hit?

**Terence Atmane** (2:17)
It's going to be very difficult because my bag is all the way on the other side. And it's like a 10 minute walk, as you guys know.

**Stevie** (2:25)
It's across the river.

**Terence Atmane** (2:25)
Yes, it's across the river, literally.

**Sam** (2:28)
Yeah, you recorded this for Madrid. The other magician on tour is Gaël Monfils. And by magician, I mean like he can also do magic and card tricks. Do you guys ever get together and compare tricks or perform together for the players?

**Terence Atmane** (2:42)
Not with Gaël, but actually with Constant, Lestienne, who's actually doing some crazy, crazy magic tricks. And I'm actually doing a lot of tricks with Constant because we are comparing, we're just trying to find some ways to make it better, smoother, and it's fantastic.

**Stevie** (2:59)
Yeah, I mean, I feel like that's a skill that I wish I could have because it'd be a fun kind of trick to go around. You could always have anyone entertained, but let's get into the nitty gritty of things. Let's start with the tennis.
You know, you mentioned, you know, you've mentioned, you know, in the past, like you're a big gamer, you kind of watched Wii Sports, Virtua Tennis as a starting point for your love of the game. Like, is that actually how you fell in love with tennis? Or is there, you know, just kind of an off-story and there's some family connection somehow?

**Terence Atmane** (3:25)
No, no, no. So basically in my family, nobody's playing tennis.
Not a single one person. And since a very young age, I'm a big fan of video games. And I was spending way too much time on the Wii when I was young. And one day my mom just came back from work and she was a bit upset that I was playing that much. So she literally bought the first racket that she found in a store. And I went straight to the tennis court next to my house and that's how I start tennis.