Gabriel Diallo came out short in his first-career match against a Top 5 opponent in what was a riveting second-round battle against world No. 5 Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Fritz was victorious 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(0), 4-6, 6-3 and now has wins over the top three Canadians in 2025.
Both players truly put on a serving clinic on Court No. 1, combining for 53 aces in favour of the American. Fritz, who ranks second in average first-serve points won this year, finished the match winning 80 per cent of point on his first delivery while doing well at keeping his unforced errors at a minimum with 16.
Diallo earned the early break in Fritz’s opening service game, however, the Canadian was under constant pressure in his first three service games. The Montreal-native faced five break points over that span but was only able to save four as the set was level at 3-3.
In the ensuing two games, a Diallo hold and break set the 24-year-old up to serve for the opener. At set point, the world No. 40 fired one of his 26 aces in the match to go up a set.
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To begin the second, both players’ big serves were on display as Diallo and Fritz lost a combined three points in their first three service games.
With Fritz up 4-3, the American No. 1 took control of the set. The Californian hit a perfect passing shot at 15-40 to break before securing the set with a love game. Fritz lost only two points on serve in the second as the match was off to a third in less than an hour.
At 3-3 in the third set, Diallo still could not solve the American’s serve. Since the Canadian No. 3 broke in the eighth game of the opening set, Fritz had dropped just five points on serve.
The Montreal-native was solid on his delivery as well though, not facing a single break point in the third and winning 80 per cent of his first-serve points en route to a tiebreak. However, a return winner gave Fritz the early minibreak and six straight points won later, the world No. 5 was one set away from the third round.
The match was halted for a brief period so the roof could close upon Court No. 1 and the short break looked to help the Canadian. In the third game, Diallo held his first break points since the first set and converted. The Montreal-native then held after an eight-deuce game to lead 3-1.
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Fritz grew back into the set, holding then going up 15-40 in the sixth game. However, Diallo rallied to eventually hold.
At 5-4, the Canadian No. 3 serving for the set, Diallo fired an unreturned serve to send the match to a decisive set.
In the sixth game, a vital break opportunity opened up for the American after Diallo put his volley into the net at 30-all. On the next point, the Canadian suffered one of his 50 unforced errors of the evening as Fritz just needed to hold two more times, up 4-2.
At 5-3, 30-15, the Californian recorded his 27th ace to hold a pair of match points. Diallo was unable to handle the Fritz serve on the ensuing point as the Montrealer’s run at the All-England Club ends despite an impressive second-round performance.
However, the Canadian's doubles run at Wimbledon has yet to begin as Diallo and Belgian Zizou Bergs pair up to take on No. 11 seed Sadio Dounbia and Fabien Reboul in the first round on Thursday.
Fernandez stumbles again in Wimbledon second round
The second round of Wimbledon remains a challenging hurdle for Leylah Annie Fernandez. For the third year in a row, the Lavalloise was eliminated in round two at the All-England Club, this time falling to Laura Siegemund in straight sets.
Fernandez got stuck playing from behind early on and found herself struggling to keep up with Siegemund’s powerful hitting on the slick grass. The Canadian never solved her opponent’s serve in the 6-2, 6-3 loss.
Big serving was critical for Siegemund in the second-round clash. She won 71 per cent of her first serve points and saved all three break points she faced. Fernandez struggled at times to even get returns in play. 31 per cent of the German’s serves were unreturned.
Siegemund came out swinging and bullied Fernandez in the Canadian’s opening service game, culminating in a forehand winner for a break to start the match. Fernandez had a chance to respond immediately in the following game but could not convert her own break point.
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In the fifth game, the backhand deserted the Lavalloise and she found herself down 15-40 on her own serve. Fernandez dug in and saved the first two break points to get back to deuce, but after a Siegemund forehand winner set up a third, the Canadian double-faulted to make it a double-break. Again, Fernandez had a look to break right back in the next game but Siegemund wiped away the break point, the last opportunity for the Canadian in the set, with a forehand winner.
Fernandez had the first chance to break in the second set at 2-1 but sent her forehand long. That miss proved costly as Siegemund pounced in the very next game, breaking to love to move ahead 3-2.
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Once she had the lead, the German locked in. She never trailed on her own serve the rest of the way and added one last break in the final game to wrap up the win.
Victoria Mboko is the last Canadian standing in the women’s singles and will play her second-round match with Hailey Baptiste on Thursday. Fernandez herself is still competing in women’s doubles.
Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak
