It was a challenging day for the Canadian players on the iconic centre court in Montreal.
Canada’s Gabriel Diallo had to withdraw from his second-round match at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers due to a troubling leg injury on Tuesday.
After losing the first set to Italy’s Luciano Darderi, Diallo was leading 3-2 in the second when he made the difficult decision to exit.
The injury seemed to manifest during the fifth game of the second set, as Diallo landed awkwardly after launching an ace past Darderi.
With tears in his eyes, the Montreal native left the court, visibly upset in front of his home crowd.
At just 24 years old, Diallo has been battling a recurring back injury throughout the season, causing his ranking to slip outside the Top 100 for the first time since 2024.
Entering the National Bank Open as a wild card, Diallo began his tournament on Monday with a hard-fought 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-2 victory over qualifier Kyrian Jacquet.
On the same day, Diallo wasn’t the only Canadian to retire on centre court; Denis Shapovalov also had to cut his match short due to an ankle injury.
With both Diallo and Shapovalov sidelined, all Canadian hopes now rest on Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The No. 2 seed in the tournament is set to kick off his campaign on Wednesday against France’s Titouan Droguet.
