Montreal’s very own Gabriel Diallo surged into the second round of the prestigious Eastbourne Open grass-court tennis tournament, clinching his victory against France’s Terence Atmane with a thrilling scoreline of 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-5 on Monday.
Diallo sealed the match with a decisive third break in the final game, showcasing remarkable determination.
The towering six-foot-eight Canadian faced minimal challenges throughout, experiencing only one break and dominating with an impressive 72 percent success rate on his service points, which included a staggering 81 percent on his first serve.
Both athletes showcased their formidable power on the grass, with Diallo blasting 12 aces, while world No. 50 Atmane matched him with 11 of his own.
Next up for Diallo is a challenging matchup against fourth seed Tomas Etcheverry from Argentina at the ATP 250 tournament. In their previous encounter at last year’s Miami Masters, Diallo emerged victorious.
Despite a dip in his world ranking to No. 91 after peaking at No. 33 last summer, Diallo has elevated his season record to 7-15.
Later on Monday, Ottawa’s top-seeded women’s doubles team of Gabriela Dabrowski and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani squared off against Czechia’s Anastasia Detiuc and Russia’s Irina Khromacheva in an exciting round-of-16 showdown.
