Gabriel Diallo was unable to complete another comeback at the All-England Club in 2026, falling in the second round of Wimbledon early on Thursday to Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in five sets. The 24-year-old from Montreal has gone out in round two in five sets in both of his appearances in the main draw of the grass-court major.
While the Canadian was competitive from the start, Sonego had the edge in the big moments. The Italian brought his best late in sets, squeaking out a tight 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 6-2 win.
The match was a classic grass-court clash, with aggression being rewarded and the majority of the rallies being short. Both men came close to 50 winners, 49 for Diallo and 30 for Sonego, but the Italian was cleaner with just 30 unforced errors to the Canadian’s 42. Sonego managed one more break of serve in the match, converting four of his nine chances while Diallo went three-for-five.
Diallo got off to a much better start on Thursday morning than he did in his first-round match. He kicked things off with back-to-back aces as part of a quick love hold and faced little pressure on serve throughout the opening set. The problem for the Canadian was that Sonego was also locked in. Through 12 games, the returners only managed nine points combined, with the closest either came to even sniffing a break point coming in the 10th game when Diallo pushed to deuce.
In the tiebreak, a deep return from Sonego on the opening point let to an early minibreak, but the Italian soon missed a backhand long to give it back. He pulled ahead again with a volley winner to go up 5-3 and this time, Sonego did not let his lead slip away, winning four of the last five points to take the opening set.
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After a set where the returners barely got into games, it took little time in the second for that to change. In the third game, Diallo ran down a lob and hit a turning backhand that Sonego flubbed into the net to create the first break points of the match at 15-40. The Italian proceeded to spray his backhand to give the Canadian the first break of the day.
From there, the match reverted to servers dominating. Diallo was impeccable once he had the break, holding to love three times in a row after moving ahead. The only challenging moment for him came when he served for the set at 5-4 and fell behind 15-30, but it was just a blip as the Canadian powered through the next three points to level the match.
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After largely cruising on serve through the first two sets, out of nowhere, Diallo got into trouble early in the third. He netted a forehand to go down 15-40 in his opening service game and, despite fighting back to deuce, he ultimately cracked on the fifth break point in the game, dumping another forehand into the net to drop serve for the first time in the match.
Sonego looked primed to race out to a 4-0 lead when he pushed the Canadian to deuce the next time he stepped up to the line, but Diallo dug in and held. He then turned the momentum around, earning a couple of break-back points in the following game and blasted a forehand winner at the end of a rare long rally to get back on serve.
From there, the two settled back into exchanging holds. Apart from a Diallo fall in the 10th game that initially looked scary, there was little drama on the way to another tiebreak. Sonego once again started hot in the breaker, teeing off on a return for a clean winner to score an early minibreak. This time, he never relinquished the lead, earning another minibreak with a forehand winner on his way to 6-2, ultimately converting his third set point with another forehand return winner.
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The fourth set closely resembled the first, with both players holding without too much fuss. Diallo was pushed to deuce a couple of times, but there were no break points on the road to the tiebreak.
This time, it was the Canadian getting off to the quick start, blasting a big return to set up an easy volley winner for a 2-0 lead. He double-faulted the minibreak away but curled a spectacular passing shot past Sonego to go back up 4-2. Diallo had three set points at 6-3 but ended up needing a fourth, having double-faulted on the one on his own serve, where the Italian hit a forehand long to send the match to a fifth set.
Rather than the Montrealer getting a boost from extending a match, though, it was Sonego coming out quick in the fifth set. In Diallo’s first service game, the Italian clawed his way to break point and unleashed a perfect backhand passing shot down the line on his way to a 3-0 lead in the decider.
Just like the second set, the Canadian managed to reclaim the break but this time, he failed to draw even. Serving to level at three, he got into trouble and found himself fending off break points, eventually cracking on the second as Sonego moved up 4-2. That was the last straw for Diallo as Sonego did not drop another game, breaking again to seal the win after four hours and 22 minutes.
With Diallo’s loss, Félix Auger-Aliassime is the only Canadian left standing at Wimbledon in singles. He is taking on American qualifier Michael Zheng on Friday.
Leylah Annie Fernandez was knocked out of doubles on Thursday morning. She and partner Yulia Putintseva were beaten in three sets by third seeds Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic. Fernandez is also entered in mixed doubles.
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Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak
