Gabriel Diallo’s time in Rome was short-lived after losing at the hands of world No. 45 Marcos Giron in the first round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Thursday.
This was the first meeting between the two former Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Americans, with the former UCLA Bruin taking the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
After reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final at the Mutua Madrid Open last week, Diallo continued his dominance on serve but struggled with minimizing the number of unforced errors.
Diallo dropped just one point on serve during his first two service games. In the fourth game, the world No. 54 powered a return winner down the line at 30-all to hold a break point before painting the line with a forehand to go up 3-1 in the opening set.
The Canadian No. 3 didn’t hold another break point until the eighth game with Diallo up 5-2. Giron fended it off with a deft drop shot, eventually managing a hold.
That gave Diallo the chance to serve for the set, a serve that the American had no answer for. At 40-30, the Canadian delivered a powerful serve that Giron returned well wide. Diallo had 11 unreturned serves as he took the first set.
Diallo’s start to the second set was just as dominant as the first. The 23-year-old lost one point in each of his first two service games, firing one of his four aces in the match to level the set at 2-all.
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Giron held serve in the ensuing game then was finally able to solve Diallo’s big serve. The Montreal-native sent his forehand long at 15-30 to hand the American two break points which the world No. 45 capitalized on to lead 4-2.
Later at 5-3, with the game at 30-all, Diallo hit his approach shot into the net as Giron held set point. The Canadian managed a better approach during the following point, but the Thousand Oaks-native delivered a brilliant crosscourt passing shot to level the match.
Diallo won just 56 per cent of his first-serve points in the set, the lowest he has won in a set since the Tiriac Open in March.
In the decisive set, Diallo found himself in a good spot. Up 1-0, held a break point in the second game, but the Canadian No. 3 sent his return long as Giron won the ensuing two points to hold.
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Both competitors held up until the ninth game. Diallo led 40-15 but dropped seven straight points, committing three of his 42 unforced errors in the match, giving Giron the chance to serve for the match.
At 40-15, Diallo hit his forehand long on the run, putting an end to his time in the Italian capital.
This is the Montreal-native’s first round one exit since the Monte-Carlo Masters last month.
Canadians Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov still remain in men’s singles draw after first round byes.
Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak
