NEW YORK — Up two sets and a break during the first round of the U.S. Open, Térence Atmane stopped moving.The 24-year-old Frenchman was serving up 7-6, 6-3, 1-0, 40-40 against Spain’s Jaume Munar when he suddenly froze, gripping his upper right leg and lumbering about the baseline like he was doing a physical comedy performance.After trying to get his leg to move in the way he wanted, he limped agonizingly slowly to his chair and called a trainer to the court. After an initial evaluation, Atmane received treatment on his leg — which left Munar unimpressed.“We all know, and now what?” he asked the chair umpire.U.S. Open 2026 previewAva Wallace and Jen KlocknerTwo sets later, Munar was up 2-1 on serve in the fifth set, having leveled the match at two sets all. Atmane called the trainer for treatment on his legs, but during the evaluation, the trainer declined to treat him. Atmane said “it is pain, not cramp” on multiple occasions, but the trainer still declined to treat him.“Stop acting stupid and treat me, I have pain, p-a-i-n,” Atmane said.As the trainer left, Atmane asked to see the trainer’s credential to learn his name, which the trainer declined to show.Medical timeouts are not permitted for cramps, but the rule surrounding their evaluation is subjective. Trainers have to respond to what they are told by a stricken player, and players also sometimes do not know what an injury is, or, in the case of cramps, whether or not they actually have an injury at all.Players are allowed to treat cramps at three changeovers maximum, each of which lasts for a 60-second sitdown.A similar situation unfolded in the 2026 Australian Open semifinals, when Carlos Alcaraz cramped up against Alexander Zverev while holding a two-set lead. Alcaraz also received treatment, having told the physio that he believed he had a muscle injury.“He has cramps. What else should it be? This is absolute b——. That is unbelievable. That can not be. You can not be serious,” Zverev said in German to the match supervisor at the time.