After winning in a five-set thriller at Wimbledon against Gabriel Diallo, Taylor Fritz (right) was complimentary to his young opponent, praising his serving ability.Dan Istitene/Getty Images
Last month, Canada’s Gabriel Diallo lost a wild five-setter to American Taylor Fritz at Wimbledon. On Friday, the two power-serving big men will meet again, this time on the hardcourt in Toronto in the third round of the National Bank Open.
The 23-year-old Montrealer is the only Canadian man remaining in the singles draw, and he’ll have the home crowd on his side when he gets his second crack at the U.S. World No. 4, who is seeded No. 2 in this event.
The two big men – 6-foot-5 Fritz and 6-foot-8 Diallo – put on a show with their bombing serves in that second-round contest at Wimbledon. They combined for 53 aces that day, 27 for Fritz, 26 by Diallo.
This week in Toronto, Diallo called going toe-to-toe with Fritz at the All England Club “arguably the best match I’ve played.”
While heartbreaking, that match was an important moment for the Canadian that affirmed he belongs.
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“I held my head really high because, I fought really hard and did a lot of good things and tried to push him to his limit,” said Diallo of that Wimbledon loss. “I think it gives confidence to me and my team that we have the level to eventually play those matches, to play on the bigger stages.”
That was Diallo’s first career match against a Top-5 opponent, and it was a roller coaster — 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(0), 4-6, 6-3. Pushing him to a fifth set showed Diallo’s mettle.
“You feel the tiredness a little bit,” recalled Diallo. “But the adrenaline is so powerful, it can keep you going.”
The 27-year-old Californian was impressed by Diallo.
“I think that he’s a really good player. I think he played well,” said Fritz after that match. “That’s just an absolutely brutal second-round match to face.”
In Toronto, Fritz is the first American top-two seed at an ATP Masters 1000 event since No. 1 Andy Roddick at the 2005 Paris Masters. He has 10 career ATP titles to his name, two of them this year. He made the semifinals at Wimbledon, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz. Fritz leads the ATP Tour in average first serve points won this season with (79.75 per cent).
Canada's Gabriel Diallo serves to Matteo Gigante of Italy during their National Bank Open match on Wednesday.Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
In contrast, Diallo is breaking out. He has climbed some 50 spots in the World rankings this year, and now sits No. 36. Twelve months on from needing a wild card to enter the main draw at Canada’s Masters 1000 tournament, Diallo is the 27th seed in Toronto.
“I was really impressed with the fact that he’s such a tall, big server,” Fritz added. “A lot of times these big servers, really tall guys, when they serve their slider serves they hit them pretty hard and big. He does a great job of getting that cutter, like, short and really cutting it away. It’s amazing. He can spread the court with his serve really well.”
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The other higher ranked Canadian men – No.28 Felix Auger Aliassime and No. 29 Denis Shapovalov – lost their first matches in Toronto, leaving Diallo to own the spotlight.
“I’m really looking forward to the challenge,” said Diallo about advancing after his Wednesday victory over Italian wild card Matteo Gigante.
“It’s what you practice for throughout the week, to get on centre court and hopefully get a packed stadium, a bunch of people coming to see you play and perform, so that’s what I’m hoping to do on Friday.”