Gabriel Diallo managed to reach the second round of Wimbledon in dramatic fashion on Tuesday, advancing past Benjamin Bonzi when the Frenchman withdrew in the fifth set. Diallo trailed by two sets to love but fought back to force a fifth set. The Canadian had just broken to go up 3-1 in the fifth when Bonzi suddenly retired, sending Diallo into round two.
It seemed like Canada’s rough start to the 2026 Championships was continuing into Tuesday when Diallo fell behind two sets to love in under an hour. But as the match went along, he settled in and took control. The Montrealer was on the front foot for the better part of the last two-and-a-bit sets until Bonzi pulled out after being broken early in the fifth with Diallo up 1-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-1.
The match was a contrast in styles, with Diallo going for broke, striking 49 winners but committing 32 unforced errors, while Bonzi was more consistent, with a mere 13 unforced errors. Both men broke serve four times.
Bonzi came flying out of the gate on Court 7, winning eight of the first nine points and broke in Diallo’s opening service game. The Frenchman got out to a quick 3-0 lead before the Canadian got on the board. Still, there was no slowing down the world No. 93. From 3-1, he won 12 of the last 14 points to wrap up the set in just 22 minutes.
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Diallo had to a better start in the second set, dropping just one point in his first two service games to get a couple of holds. However, at 2-2, he played an error-filled game, handing his opponent a couple of break points and Bonzi converted the second to move ahead.
While the Frenchman only managed the one break in the second set, it was all he needed as his serve was dominant. Once he had the advantage, Bonzi lost just one point on his own delivery the rest of the way as he took a two-set lead.
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Despite the deficit, Diallo was improving as the match went along. Early in the third set, he started to make inroads on his opponent’s serve and in the fourth game, he got his first chances to break at 15-40. Bonzi managed to save those two break points but the Canadian was not to be denied, forcing back-to-back misses from deuce to go up 3-1.
However, Diallo was unable to build any momentum and was broken right back in the following game. The set ultimately required a tiebreak, where neither man was able to assert himself. Not until the end did a player lead by more than a point, when the Montrealer forced a miss from Bonzi’s forehand on the Canadian’s set point, clinching the breaker and extending the match.
The fourth set followed a similar pattern early to the previous one, with Diallo breaking to go up 2-1 but struggling to consolidate. The Canadian found himself down 15-40 and 40-AD but unlike the third set, he found a way to save the break points and hold to back up his break.
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It was not all smooth sailing the rest of the way for the Montrealer, but he managed to hold his nerve. At 4-3 Bonzi had multiple chances to draw back level but Diallo used his big hitting to save the break points, eventually holding to get within a game of tying the match. When Bonzi served to stay in it, the Canadian had a look at a set point and made no mistake, crushing a return that was too much for the Frenchman to handle to send the match to a fifth set.
Just like the previous two sets, Diallo put the pressure on early. In the fourth game on Bonzi’s serve, the Canadian got a look at love-40 and on the third break point, blasted a forehand winner to go up 3-1.
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That ended up being the final point of the match as Bonzi immediately called for the physio after the break and promptly retired, sending Diallo into the second round at Wimbledon for the second year in a row.
Diallo will face the winner between No. 29 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry, whom the Canadian just beat last week in Eastbourne, and Lorenzo Sonego in round two.
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Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
