Diallo Powers Into US Open Round Three; Dabrowski Tops Fernandez

Photo : Martin Sidorjak

Gabriel Diallo continued to shine on Thursday at what has been a tough US Open for Canada, upsetting the No. 24 seed Arthur Fils in four sets to reach the third round of a major for the first time in his career.

There was also a blockbuster clash of Canadians in the doubles on Thursday in New York, with Gabriela Dabrowski beating Leylah Annie Fernandez in the first round.

Already the last Canadian standing in singles, Diallo brought the intensity to his second-round clash, going blow-for-blow with his powerful French opponent and generally getting the better of the hard-hitting exchanges. In the end he was able to pick up his fifth win at the 2024 US Open 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4.

The serve was critical for the Canadian as he fired a dozen aces, won 77 per cent of his first serve points and 58 per cent of his seconds, while limiting his opponent to just three break point chances in the match. Diallo converted five of his 10 break points on the Fils serve.

Diallo gave his opponent nothing to work with in the opening set. The Canadian was crisp on serve, never trailing in his six service games. He started applying pressure on return early, pushing Fils to deuce in two of the Frenchman’s first three service games. The first true opening for Diallo came in the eighth game when Fils shanked a forehand to go down 30-40, but the 24^th seed was able to hit his way out of the jam.

Serving to stay in the set at 5-6, a fortunate net cord awkwardly kicked over Fils at the net and the Frenchman struggled to recover. He fired the ball into the net on the next two points to give Diallo a triple set point and did it again on the second to surrender the opening set.

For most of the second set, Diallo found himself playing catch-up. He finally started showing some vulnerability on serve and a double fault at 1-1 put himself down break point for the first time in the match, which his opponent converted to take the lead.

However, Fils struggled to hang on to leads. Twice in the second set he broke Diallo only to be broken back immediately as a part of a run of four straight breaks from 1-1 to 3-3. In the tiebreak, he also twice led by a minibreak only for the Canadian to reel him back in.

One point completely put the wind to the Frenchman’s back in the breaker. At 3-3, he misjudged a lob from Diallo and pulled out a brilliant tweener to stay alive in the point, which he went on to win with a passing shot winner. Fils did not drop another point in the tiebreak to even the match.

Fils initially seemed to carry the momentum into the third set as he won the first six points to go up 1-0 and love-30 on the Diallo serve, but the Canadian was able to wrestle it back, holding that game to slow the Frenchman down.

As the set went along, the Canadian upped his intensity and his big hitting paid off. At 3-3, he had two nearly identical looks at break points with Fils sending a passing shot to his backhand. The first time, Diallo dumped it into the net but on the second he made no mistake, ripping a brilliant passing shot down the line to seize the initiative.

Diallo found himself down 30-40 as he attempted to consolidate the break but once again his boldness paid off. Down break point, he fired a 130 MPH ace out wide to get back to deuce and followed it up with a big forehand and then another ace to go up 5-3. When it came time to serve out the set, he held to love, finishing with an ace.

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After weathering an early storm in the fourth set, including a 10-minute hold in the fourth game, Diallo made his move again in the seventh game. The Canadian ripped a forehand winner up the line to take a 15-40 lead and Fils sent a backhand long on the second break point to give Diallo the edge.

That was all he needed as the Canadian held his final two service games, closing out the win with another hold to love.

In order to reach his first round of sixteen at a major and set a potential clash with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, Diallo will have to overcome No. 14 seed Tommy Paul in the third round.

Dabrowski Tops Fernandez Again

Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe got their title defence in New York underway on Thursday, defeating Dabrowski’s countrywoman Leylah Annie Fernandez, who was knocked out of singles in round one, and her Kazakhstani partner Yulia Putintseva in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.

It was the Cincinnati runners-up getting off to a quick start, breaking for a 2-0 lead to open the match but that was when the top seeds kicked into gear. Dabrowski and Routliffe reeled off four straight games to turn their early deficit into a break lead at 4-2. That was enough cushion for them to take the opening set.

Fernandez and Putintseva held to open the second set before Dabrowski and Routliffe took the next three games to go up a break. The Canadian-Kazakhstani pair never had a look at a break point once they fell behind in the second, dropping serve a second time as the defending champions wrapped up the win in 71 minutes.

Dabrowski and Routliffe have gotten the better of Fernandez in several big matches over the last year, including an epic in the 2023 US Open quarter-finals on their way to their first major title and earlier in August in the Toronto semifinals. Routliffe also beat Fernandez and Putintseva in the Cincinnati final this summer.

Written By

Pete Borkowski