Gabriel Diallo earned one of the biggest wins of his young career on Monday, defeating world No. 18 Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets in the first round of Roland-Garros.
The Canadian’s 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win over the Argentine is the third time Diallo has beaten a Top 20 opponent. His most-recent win came just a month ago in Madrid against world No. 17 Grigor Dimitrov.
It was a strong day for the Canadian men in Paris as Denis Shapovalov joined Diallo in the second round with a straight-set win of his own over Pedro Martinez.
Diallo’s service game continued to impress as the 23-year-old won 78 per cent of his first-serve points, capped off by his four aces in the match. The Canadian No. 3 wasn’t the most efficient when holding break point, converting four of his eleven, but broke at vital times throughout the match.
Both players were strong on serve to begin the match. In their opening two service games, Diallo won 89 per cent of his first-serve points while Cerundolo didn’t drop a point.
At 5-5, Diallo faced his first bit of adversity on serve at love-30. However, the Montreal-native battled, recording two of his nine unreturned serves in the first set to eventually hold.
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In the ensuing game, Diallo held the match’s first break point. At 15-30, the Madrid Open quarter-finalist forced Cerundolo to hit his half-volley into the net to put Diallo one point away from taking the opening set. On the next point, the Argentine No. 1 double faulted to hand the Canadian the opener.
To begin the second set, Diallo started off the same way he ended the first. At 15-40, he had a great chance to break Cerundolo for the second-straight time but the 26-year-old won the next four points, partially thanks to a pair of Diallo unforced errors.
In the third game, Diallo had three opportunities to hold but failed to convert on each. Then faced with his first and only break point of the afternoon, the Canadian committed one of his 37 unforced errors in the match as Cerundolo broke.
Unfazed, the 23-year-old responded with his second break of the match before holding to take a 3-2 lead.
In the following game, Diallo again had the opportunity for back-to-back breaks. However, Cerundolo fought off three break points, needing just one chance to hold as the Argentine evened the set.
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In the eighth game, the Montreal-native was determined to not let multiple break points slip away once again. At 15-40, Diallo powered a backhand that the Madrid Open semifinalist was unable to handle at the net. Then the Canadian No. 3, serving for the set at 40-15, fired yet another unreturned serve as Diallo took a stunning 2-0 set lead over the world No. 18.
To start the third set, both players held in their first three service games. In the seventh game at 15-40, Cerundolo recorded one of his 34 unforced errors in the match, a vital break for Diallo as the 22-year-old just needed to serve out the set to complete the upset.
At 5-4, Diallo held two match points at 40-15 but only needed one as the Canadian fired a forehand winner down the line, his 27th winner, to seal the victory.
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Diallo improved to 2-0 against Argentine, having defeated Cerundolo in Almaty last year.
The Canadian No. 3 awaits the winner of Marcos Giron and Tallon Griekspoor in the second round.
Shapovalov Cruises Into Round Two
Denis Shapovalov had one of the best performances of his career at Roland-Garros on Monday, easily dispatching Spain’s Pedro Martinez in straight sets to reach the second round of the French Open for the third year in a row.
Apart from a couple of blips early in the first and third sets, it was mostly smooth sailing for the Canadian. At one point, he won 10 consecutive games and led wire to wire in a 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 win.
Shapovalov dominated this match-up, firing 38 winners to his opponent’s nine and breaking serve eight times. He won an astounding 82 per cent of Martinez’s second serve points and 59 per cent of his opponent’s service points overall.
There was no shortage of opportunities for Shapovalov early on. In Martinez’s second service game, the Canadian had a look at a double break point and secured the quick advantage when the Spaniard netted a forehand. However, Shapovalov gifted the break right back with a disastrous game, sandwiching a pair of double faults with two errors to give away a love break. But he responded perfectly, reclaiming the advantage in the next game.
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Once he had the lead again, Shapovalov did not have to work very hard to run away with the set. After a much better service game to put himself up 5-2, he let Martinez throw away the set as the Spaniard hit back-to-back double faults to surrender the opening frame.
Shapovalov was in a groove and showed no signs of slowing down in the second set. Martinez had no answer for the Canadian, who seemed to be finding winners and aces at will. Shapovalov broke three times and needed just 24 minutes as he swept through the second set.
When Martinez held for 1-1 in the third set, it snapped a 10-game run for Shapovalov that dated back to the nightmare game in the opening set. Still, the Spaniard was under constant pressure from the No. 27 seed. In the fourth game, it was Shapovalov’s defensive skills coming through as he held a break point and showed off some impressive wheels to stay alive and eventually coax an error for the break.
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In a repeat of the first set, Shapovalov played a poor game to gift the break back to Martinez, only to immediately reclaim the initiative with another break, going up 4-2. That break proved decisive as he secured the two holds he needed to secure the win.
Next up for the Canadian No. 2 will be either qualifier Filip Misolic or Yunchaokete Bu. Shapovalov will be looking to reach the third round in Paris for the third straight year.
Photo Credit: Martin Sidorjak
