Canada’s Gabriel Diallo books maiden ATP win, taking out Citi Open champ Dan Evans in Toronto

Canadian wildcard Gabriel Diallo won against Daniel Evans 7-6 (4), 7-5 to advance to the second round of the Toronto Masters at the Aviva Centre on Tuesday night.

It was a special moment for the Montreal native, made even more special by the fact that the victory comes in his hometown.

“Words cannot really describe how I feel right now. I hope that everyone in this planet can feel what I’m feeling right now, this level of happiness,” Diallo said in his on-court interview. “But obviously it doesn’t come without hard work behind the scenes.

“But it shows that hard work eventually pays off and hopefully this can be the start of something.”

Diallo has defeated Evans twice this year. He earned his first career top 50 win over Evans at the Surbiton Challenger in June but added that this was special and that he was proud of the way he managed to fight back in the deciding set.

What I’m proud of is I was able to bounce back right away.

Gabriel Diallo

“It’s my first ATP win. And, of course, doing it at home in Toronto, it means the world. So I would say this is individually my best accomplishment so far,” Diallo said.

“Something that’s definitely going to stick with me is that no matter what’s going on in the match, and I know it’s really difficult, but if you can try to remain calm and try to remain still and try to be unphased with everything that’s happening. So I would say, what I did, what I’m proud of is I was able to bounce back right away. And every time I got broken, I was able to break right back, and it also sends a message to my opponent. And, luckily, I got the job done.”

The 21-year-old world No 141 broke into the top 500 last August. He was a 2022 NCAA men’s singles quarter-finalist with the University of Kentucky, before turning pro at the end of last year.

DIALLO IS DREAMING 🤩

The Canadian WC gets his first ATP win, defeating the Citi Open champ 7-6 7-5!#NBO23 pic.twitter.com/KgeApdWKzj

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 9, 2023

Diallo, ranked No 141, will play Australian Alex De Minaur next.

Toronto Masters, other first-round matches (Aviva Centre, hard, USD 6,600,000):

• Alex De Minaur beat Cameron Norrie (11): 7-5, 6-4
• Aleksandar Vukic (LL) beat Borna Coric (14): 6-2, 6-3
• Alexander Zverev (13) beat Tallon Griekspoor: 6-4, 7-6 (3)
• Mackenzie McDonald beat Aslan Karatsev: 6-3, 6-4
• Ugo Humbert beat Nicolas Jarry: 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Andy Murray beat Lorenzo Sonego: 7-6 (3), 6-0
• Sebastian Korda beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry: 6-3, 6-2
• Marcos Giron (Q) beat Emil Ruusuvuori: 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6)
• Matteo Arnaldi (Q) beat Vasek Pospisil (WC): 6-4, 6-4
• Tommy Paul (12) beat Diego Schwartzman (Q): 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
• Miomir Kecmanovic beat Cristian Garin (Q): 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4
• Milos Raonic (WC) beat Frances Tiafoe (9): 6-7 (12), 7-6 (4), 6-3
• Taro Daniel (Q) beat Adrian Mannarino: 7-6 (5), 6-4
• Gael Monfils beat Christopher Eubanks: 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 6-1
• Thanasi Kokkinakis (Q) beat Zhizhen Zhang: 7-5, 6-4
• Hubert Hurkacz (15) beat Alexander Bublik: 6-3, 7-6 (2)
• Matteo Berrettini beat Gregoire Barrere: 6-4, 6-3
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat J.J. Wolf: 6-0, 6-2
• Jiri Lehecka beat Brandon Nakashima: 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (2)
• Lorenzo Musetti (16) beat Yoshihito Nishioka: 6-4, 6-1
• Francisco Cerundolo beat Alexis Galarneau (WC): 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
• Ben Shelton vs. Bernabe Zapata Miralles
• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Max Purcell