Gabriel Diallo plays a return to Benjamin Bonzi of France during the men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday.Kin Cheung/The Canadian Press
Canada’s Gabriel Diallo advanced at Wimbledon with a walkover in his first-round match Tuesday against France’s Benjamin Bonzi.
Bonzi was trailing 1-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-1 when Bonzi took a medical timeout before withdrawing from the match.
After going down two sets, Diallo battled back in the third. He gave up an early break, but battled back to win a tightly contested tiebreaker.
At Wimbledon, World Cup games are off and tennis is on
Diallo built on the momentum, taking the fourth set with a break in the decisive game. He scored his fourth break of the game to take a 3-1 lead in the fifth before Bonzi retired.
The 24-year-old Canadian will next face Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego at the grass-court Grand Slam.
Diallo joins fellow Montrealer Félix Auger-Aliassime in the second round. Auger-Aliassime, the men’s third seed at the All England Club, will meet Dino Prizmic of Croatia on Wednesday.