Diallo overcomes rain delay in wild win over Gigante
Canadian Gabriel Diallo showed poise and composure through a rain delay and a wild back-and-forth second set as he defeated Italian wildcard Matteo Gigante 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the second round of the National Bank Open on Wednesday.
Diallo will face the winner of Wednesday’s match between world No. 4 Taylor Fritz and Roberto Carballes Baena. The No. 36 is looking to win his second ATP title of his career after winning the Libema Open in June.
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Diallo set the tone on Gigante’s first service game of the match. Up 1-0, Diallo forced seven break points, and Gigante was able to fend off the first six before the Canadian finally earned the break in a hard-fought game that took over 11 minutes to complete. Diallo would easily hold his next serve at love to take full control of the first set.
Diallo appeared to force Gigante into another break point up 3-0, but the world No. 125 called for a video review that showed that the Canadian’s return went through the net, allowing Gigante to hold and close the gap.
Play was briefly suspended due to rain, with Diallo up 5-3, but the Montreal native picked up right where he left off, easily holding to win the first set 6-3.
Diallo had Gigante on his heels early in the second set, forcing break points on each of his first two service games, his eighth and ninth of the match. However, the 23-year-old Italian was able to fight them off and earn successive holds to go up 2-1. Gigante would break Diallo for the first time and would eventually put himself 5-2 and on the brink of forcing a third.
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Facing the prospect of a third set, Diallo would flip the switch and win three straight games, including converting his third break and saving a pair of set points to even things at 5-5. The pair would then trade holds to force a second-set tiebreak.
Like the entire second set, the tiebreak saw wild swings of momentum. Gigante took control first by converting three straight points to take a 5-3 lead. Diallo would once again show resilience and find his form, rattling off four straight points and clinching the match as Gigante double-faulted on match point.
Diallo squandered plenty of opportunities in the straight sets win, converting just 2-of-13 break points, but made up for it by winning 81 per cent of his first-serve points.
-Jonathan Chan
Galarneau loses hard-fought match to Cobolli
Alexis Galarneau battled Flavio Cobolli – and a rain delay – but the Canadian’s National Bank Open run in Toronto ended in the second round, losing 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 on Wednesday.
Galarneau put Cobolli under significant pressure on serve, holding 11 break points and converting on four. However, the Italian won the aces battle 12-7 and his 24 winners were two better than the Canadian’s tally.
Cobolli silenced the home crowd early with two-straight breaks to shoot out to a 3-0 lead.
Galarneau had an opportunity to cut into the deficit, holding a break point in each of the Italian’s next two service games. The Lavallois missed the first but converted on the second. After a love hold, the 26-year-old was only down by a game at 3-4.
Unfortunately for Galarneau, he was unable to score another break despite holding a pair of break points at 4-5. Cobolli secured the opener with three consecutive aces but made just 44 per cent of his first serves in the set.
In a strong showing to begin the second, the Canadian won eight of the first nine points to lead 2-0. However, the Italian No. 3 broke back and eventually held to level the set.
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Galarneau dropped just one point in his next three service games, firing four aces over that span. At 6-5, 15-40, the Lavallois held double set point, but two unreturned serves forced deuce. The Florence-native then committed two of his nine double faults of the afternoon as the Canadian levelled the match.
Prior to the start of the decisive set, the clouds opened and it was a rain delay that initially benefited Cobolli as the Italian won eight of the opening ten points to go up a break early when play resumed.
Undeterred, Galarneau responded with a break in the fourth game to draw level before saving two break points to take his first lead of the match at 3-2. But, at 4-4, 30-40 a double fault from the Canadian gave Cobolli the chance to serve for a spot in the third round.
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Serving for the match, the world No. 17 fired four aces to end a thrilling contest.
Galarneau’s singles run in Toronto ends after earning his first ATP Tour main draw win with a straight-sets victory over Arthur Rinderknech on Monday. The Lavallois will partner with fellow Quebecker Gabriel Diallo in doubles, with their first-round match on Thursday against the all-American duo of Frances Tiafoe and Alex Michelsen.
-Francesco Tosini
Auger-Aliassime ousted in straight-set loss to Marozsan
Félix Auger-Aliassime was eliminated in the National Bank Open second round in Toronto, losing to Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday.
Auger-Aliassime was up an early break in each set but those were the Canadian’s only two of the match. Marozsan converted on double the number of break points, converting on four of five. The 25-year-old also kept his unforced errors to a minimum, finishing with nine compared to Auger-Aliassime’s 14.
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The Montrealer jumped out to a 3-0 lead just inside 20 minutes as the 24-year-old looked to take full control of the opener. However, at 4-1, Auger-Aliassime began to run into some trouble, committing six unforced errors and two double faults over the next four games as Marozsan found himself in front 5-4.
Serving for the set, the Hungarian completed his five-game run and headed into the second with the advantage.
In similar fashion to the start of the opening set, Auger-Aliassime managed to lead by a break early on but was broken back in the third game as Marozsan eventually levelled 2-2.
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In the seventh game, a comfortable service game at 40-15 soon turned into the Canadian No.1 having to face a break point. The world No. 28 went on the attack but a perfect lob by Marozsan earned him the break and a 4-3 lead.
The Hungarian had the opportunity to serve out the match at 5-4. At 30-all, an Auger-Aliassime return winner put him in a spot to extend the match. However, Marozsan fired two straight unreturned serves to hold match point which the world No. 56 converted.
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This was the first meeting between the Canadian and Hungarian No. 1 – Auger-Aliassime was not a part of the Team Canada Davis Cup squad that lost to Hungary in the first round of qualifiers earlier this year.
Diallo is the only Canadian remaining in the men’s singles draw.
-Francesco Tosini
Feature Photo: Peter Power
